Shadows
by cashew
Summary: “He painted a pretty picture for you, didn’t he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?” A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?
1. Graduation Day

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summery: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own

A/N Here I am again, starting yet another story. Lol, I have way too many impulse ideas. This story is going to be my first Ron/Hermione and we'll see how it goes. Warning though, it is going to be rather dark so if you want light and fluffy I suggest that you look elsewhere.

Oh yeah, and even though I swore that I would never write in the first person point of view again I am anyway. This is all from Ron's perspective.

Chapter One

Prologue/Graduation Day

Do you know what it is like for your role in life to be the sidekick? My claim to fame is being the boy who lived's friend. His confidant, trusted advisor, his little helper. I realize that saying these things make me come off as bitter and jealous, but I'm not those things, really.

I love Harry as one would love any friend, but I can't help but to sometimes feel under appreciated, not noticed, a shadow waiting in the wings if you will. I understand that Harry doesn't want the attention, he didn't ask for it, and Lord knows that he doesn't bask in it; but at the same time I don't understand why he has it in the first place. He has said himself that out all of his encounters with he who must not be named he has only escaped based on guesses and pure luck. Why should one be famous for being lucky?

I've lived my entire life in the shadows. When I was young I always had the expectations of my brothers to live up to. I am not the youngest in my family, but I definitely have it the worst. Nothing is expected of Ginny, except to get married and give my mother lots of grandchildren. She's a girl so therefore the same rules do not apply to her. But me, I'm a boy, and when I become a man I will be anticipated to exceed the limitations set by five others. Even Fred and George, who were deemed the 'screw-ups' have found success in their joke business. Through their antics with their now numerous shops they have gained the respect and pride of my parents, as well as most of the community.

When I went to Hogwarts, I had dreams and aspirations that I would become greater than anyone in my family. I would stick out of the crowd, and not just because of my red hair. But before I even made it to the school I was sucked into the world of Harry Potter and thus I immediately became known as the sidekick. At first I was thrilled about the whole thing, I mean it was _Harry Potter_! But that novelty soon wore off as I realized that he was only human, he had the same faults that anyone had, he wasn't _that_ special.

I had thought that my feelings were changing when we became friends with Hermione; I would no longer be the sidekick, with another member of the friendship we would become a group of equals. I should have known that I would never be Hermione's equal. She was, and still is come to think of it, the smartest person that I had ever met. So there I was, I had two best friends; one was the known as the savior of the wizarding world and the other was known as one of the smartest witches that the wizarding world had ever seen. And me, I was Ron Weasley, friend of the boy who lived and the brilliant bookworm.

These thoughts kept occurring to me as I sat patiently in my seat on the day of my graduation. I kept trying to pay attention, but it was hard being that it was all so horribly boring. At some point Hermione got up and gave a speech since she was graduating first in the class. And when I say speech, I do mean speech. This thing was _long_. I really did try to listen to her, she was my best friend, she deserved my attention. But when I heard her mention spew, ahem, I mean S.P.E.W, I couldn't help but allow my mind to wander. And this is where it got me, in the land of bitter thoughts and regrets.

Graduation can be one of the most depressing events of your life if you have no goals. I had no clue what I wanted out of life. Harry was heading off to auror training and Hermione was continuing with her education at one of the most prestigious schools in Britain. Maybe I would crawl into a nice big hole and wait to whiter up and die.

After an extremely long amount of time, I finally graduated from Hogwarts. When your last name is Weasley you learn very quickly to grow to hate anything that is in alphabetical order. By the time that I received my diploma the crowd was restless and the applause, minus the section that my family was in, was minimal. After I sat back down I briefly recalled the standing ovation that Harry had received when he accepted his diploma from Dumbledore with tears in his eyes. He always did love this school just a _little_ bit too much.

After the ceremony was complete I found Harry and Hermione before we all began looking for my family. Hermione's parents where seated with my family looking a little uncomfortable about being surrounded by so much magic. However their mood seemed to change upon seeing their only child. While she had her little reunion with her own family Harry and I were congratulated by mine.

I soon grew tired of hearing the formalities that followed any major event and began to look around. My eyes lingered on my sister who seemed to be in a world of her own at the moment. I attempted to follow the direction of her wistful gaze but soon got lost in the sea of people. It only bothered me for a moment before I shrugged it off, Ginny always had been boy crazy, it was probably just her newest crush.

"All right everyone," my mother announced loudly, "I think that it's time to head back to the Burrow where we will continue the celebration!" She then proceeded to gush about how proud she was of the three of us and I tuned her out, she made this same speech every time one of us made some sort of accomplishment.

Eventually the 'celebration' was moved to the Burrow and I found myself hiding out from the rest of the crowd. I was horrible at hiding my emotions and the last thing that I needed was people questioning why this wasn't one of the happiest days of my life.

But I couldn't hide forever and eventually my father found me. Though I'm sure that it didn't take much effort, being that I was hiding in my room and all. I forced a smile onto my face and made up some lame excuse about how I was looking for something. He led me down the stairs where the rest of the guests were and I soon found myself laughing and reminiscing about the good ole days at Hogwarts. Maybe I was better at hiding my emotions than I had originally thought.

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A/N Yeah yeah, I realize that this, like everything else that I write is strange. But, I'm really into this idea and I'm in this one for the long haul. It is going to _eventually _be a R/Hr story but a lot is going to happen before they get together. I am also aware that he seems kind of whiny, but he won't be like that for long. Ron is going to go to the dark side but that doesn't mean that I'm making him evil. Please review, I appreciate any kind of feedback and I would love to know what you all think about where this is going.


	2. The Longest Day

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summery: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize I don't own

A/N Hmm, well for once I don't really have anything to say. I feel like I should pat myself on the back though because it's been a while since I had a next day update on anything. Oh yeah, and the morning part is basically me in the mornings, lol!

Chapter One

The Longest Day

"RON WEASLEY WAKE UP THIS ISTANT!" And that is how I awoke the very next morning, by the lovely sound of my mother's shrill voice carrying up the stairs.

I gave the traditional groan, mumbled, "five more minutes," into my pillow and attempted to go back to sleep. Ah, sleep was good. However, unfortunately for me I live with Fred and George who are 'morning people' so my standard self-inflicted snooze was quickly cut short by the unpleasant sounds of a herd of elephants bounding down the stairs.

And by a herd of elephants, I do mean that literally. It was their newest invention, guaranteed to get the laziest person out of bed or your money back. I gave one final moan before dragging myself away from the warm comforts of my bed and down to the chaos that is the Weasley kitchen.

I immediately began to pile food onto my plate; if I had to be up I was going to eat. Fred or George, it was too early to tell which one, made some snide comment about that herd of elephants that they heard must have been my stomach growling. I was about to respond but Hermione beat me to it. I gave her a grateful smile as my best comeback probably would have been shut up you stupid git.

"So Ron," Hermione began way too cheerfully, "you are coming to Diagon Alley with us today, aren't you?"

"Why are we going to Diagon Alley?" I asked without much enthusiasm.

Hermione gave a frustrated sigh and shot me a look that clearly said that she was disappointed in my memory of the 'important event.' "We are going," she said stiffly, "so I can pick up the books that I need for my summer reading before I go to school."

I sighed myself and gave her an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry that I forgot Mione'."  


"It's quite all right." And thus the argument, if you could even call it that, ended. Everyone at the table looked up in shock, you could hear the sound of knives, forks, and spoons being dropped to the floor. I rolled my eyes at their reactions, we didn't have huge fights _that_ often, did we?

"The fight is over?" I heard Ginny whisper.

Harry nodded dumbly to her and Fred and George immediately burst into tears and began to proclaim that their ickle little Ronniekins was growing up. I growled at their antics and stood up from the table.

"I'll meet you at the fireplace in one hour," I said to Hermione only.

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Have you ever noticed that a shower can fix everything? No matter how depressed or upset you are when that hot water is streaming down your body and you are getting rid of all the dirt and grim that covers you, you can't help but feel like it's a new day, and nothing is really that bad.

So once I was freshly clean, I felt awake, forgiving, and ready to take on the world. I went down the stairs to the area that the fire was located exactly one hour later and found Harry, Hermione, and Ginny waiting beside it.

I wordlessly grabbed a fistful of floo powder, stepped in the fire and loudly yelled, "Diagon Alley." It took a few minutes for the others to follow, but they did eventually do so. Ginny was the last one out but the first one to leave. She seemed very nervous about something but she quickly scampered off claiming that she had plans to meet up with some friends of hers.

I shrugged off her strange behavior and accompanied Hermione along with Harry to the bookstore. I felt my spirits lifting as I watched Hermione practically skipping to the bookstore in happiness; sometimes even the most simple things can fill you with complete joy.

After about two hours Harry and I finally dragged Hermione out of the bookstore and onto somewhere more interesting, Quidditch Supplies. She allowed exactly thirty minutes of us wandering around the shop in awe before she began to excessively complain about what a childish and pointless sport it was. We, in turn made her wait another half an hour before finally leaving the store empty handed.

But it was at the ice cream parlor where we found the real action of the day. As we passed I looked through the large glass window and a flash of red caught my eye. It was such a distinctive color that I knew that it had to be a Weasley, and being that the only other Weasley in Diagon Alley was Ginny I put two and two together.

I forced my friends to stop as I spied on my baby sister. There was someone else with her, but I couldn't see who as she was blocking them and they were in the back of the shop.

"Come on Ron," Hermione said clearly agitated, "lets just go, I'm sure that Ginny is just with a friend."

"It's not a friend," I growled. "I can tell that it's a guy and I want to know who she is with."

She sighed and attempted to psychically drag me away from the parlor. "Please Ron, lets leave. I thought that you were over being all protective of her anyway. Remember how we agreed that she was old enough to make her own decisions?"

I easily yanked my arm away from Hermione as I was much larger and stronger than she, and quickly resumed my spot at the window. She should have really known better than to think that I was over that, Ginny was the baby of the family her role was to be protected.

Suddenly Ginny threw her head back in laughter and I got a glimpse of who she was dining with. He had blonde hair. Hair so fine and blonde that it looked almost silver. Malfoy.

Hermione shot a panicked look at Harry who shrugged in return before grabbing onto my arm. "Come on mate," he pleaded, "just leave her be."

"Leave her be?" I asked slowly. I pointed at the window in frustration, "do you see who she's with? She is with bloody _Malfoy_ Harry and all you can say is _leave her be_?" I didn't wait for his response as I stormed into the store with Harry still hanging on to my arm.

When the door was slammed open Ginny's head shot up in surprise. She took one look at my angry face before immediately standing up in front of Draco.

"Uh, hi Ron," she said meekly. I glared at her and felt my facing burning red with anger, why on earth would she be in here, laughing with MALFOY? I roughly pushed her aside and the man that I had despised all of my life stood up and mirrored my glare.

"Ron!" Ginny cried, attempting to gain my attention, "it's not what you think."

I turned to her, "what is it then Virginia?" I asked in a dangerous voice.

Her eyes filled with tears and she turned to Hermione, who for once, was speechless. She let out a sob and once again placed herself in between me and the ferret. "Please don't hurt him," she pleaded with me.

I saw him place a gentle hand on her arm and pull her out of the middle of the fight. His glare softened when he looked at her tear stricken face, but only for a moment. As soon as she was out of the way he turned his sneer back on and faced me once more.

"All right then Weasley," he drawled, "I think that we both know what's coming so why don't you just go ahead and get it over with."

I did a quick glance to make sure that Ginny was out of the way, "gladly Malfoy." I then raised my fist and made contact with his pale pointed face.

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A/N Ah, I always love a fight. Lol, I have problems. So speaking of problems, as you can see, Ron's are just beginning. I was going to have this chapter be longer but I have the mosquito bite from hell on my hand and I keep having to stop typing every minute to itch it. It will probably be a couple of days before I can update again because I have to leave Sunday morning to go on college visits…with my parents…until late Monday night…oh joy. I'm glad that you guys are getting this story and hopefully it will be developing into something soon.

A huge thank you goes out to:

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Ace of Spades (glad that you're trying to get into it even thought your not a big R/Hr fan!), **bumble-bee** (thank you for saying that it's original), **Silent Bob **(is coolios a word? Lol, I'll have to use that one), **spidermonkeesrcool** (I'm glad that you think that R/Hr are meant to be, I completely agree!), **fantasyangel** (Hmm, I don't know what's going to happen to his friendship with Harry *evil laugh* guess we'll just have to wait and see), and **Evil Jasmyne **(I agree with you on Ron making the books funny, he had me laughing out loud several times in OotP) I really appreciate all of your reviews!


	3. The Worst Day

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summery: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize I don't own

Chapter Two

The Worst Day

I looked around my surroundings and discovered in a panic that nothing was familiar; I had no clue as to where I was. I was in a large cold room that was covered in nothing but stones and the smell of death. I could immediately sense that I was not welcome in this rotting place and attempted to leave it.

But that proved to be attempting the impossible as there were no doors, no windows, and no opportunity for escape. I slumped down against a nearby wall in defeat and wondered what I was doing here, had I been kidnapped?

Suddenly there were two loud cracks that I instantly recognized as the sound of someone apperating. Following the disturbing noises were two hooded cloaked figures. I stood up from my position and waited for them to acknowledge me but they never did.

Confused that they were turned straight towards me and did nothing I waved a hand in front of one hood. Still nothing. Now completely frustrated I gave one a harsh kick in the shin and waited for the reaction. But since my foot went right through his leg there was none.

"Have you discovered anything new?" The taller of the two men asked.

The other shook his head slightly, "nothing more than we all ready had discovered. The best way seems to still be through his friends."

I walked closer to the men to hear them better, who were they talking about? The one that I was now referring to as tall man gave a frustrated sound and turned away from short man.

"I've told you already," he said angrily, "we need his cooperation and willing consent, blackmail is no good."

Short man turned around also so he could face his companion. "Well I do not see any other way, the boy is loyal to a fault, he will not betray."

His friend turned around and even though I could not see his face I could hear the viciousness of his slick voice. "Are you quite sure about that? I believe that given the right…circumstances the boy will come to us."

"What do you mean the right circumstances?"

"Oh my dear friend you shall find out in due time."

At this point their voices began to grow softer and felt myself being jerked away from the situation. I attempted to stay, I needed to know who they were discussing, someone was in danger! But whatever had brought me here was now taking me away and when I looked around again I was on a hard cold floor with a group of people looking down on me.

I felt reality come back with a vengeance and I jerked my body forward while roughly feeling my chest sputter with harsh coughs. I found it difficult to breath, almost how one feels when they have been underwater for too long; like you have escaped death somehow but the burning sensation all over your body serves as a reminder that you didn't escape unscathed.

Harry began to forcefully pound me on the back, "you all right there Ron?"

I nodded as my hand instinctively flew to my chest and found that it was extremely sore for some reason. Memories of a fight with Malfoy came rushing back to me and overtook my thoughts on the strange dream that I had experienced.

Through a part in the crowd that surrounded me I saw Ginny, my baby sister, sitting in a chair that was way too close to Malfoy's gently placing a piece of ice over his left eye which was now black. I saw him wince and felt my anger rise as she replaced the ice with her lips.

"Ginny," I growled loudly, "get away from him."

She looked up at me with anger clearly evident in her face. "I'm not speaking to you," she stated childishly. She then turned away from me, from her family, and I swear to God that she gave Malfoy an affectionate smile as that bastard smirked.

I tried to get up but felt a hand push me back down. I looked up with a scowl to tell off whoever was trying to keep me from going after that damn ferret again but stopped when I saw Hermione's concerned gaze directed at me.

"Ron," she said gently, "please don't try to move I think that one of your ribs may be broken."

Well, I thought reasonably, that would explain the extreme pain that I felt in my chest. I found myself unable to ignore her wishes and laid back down on the hard floor. Most of the crowd had departed as it seemed that the action was now over; the only remaining people in the area were myself, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and the git that she had the nerve to call her boyfriend.

I allowed Hermione to use various healing spells on me although she insisted that they weren't qualified enough to heal me properly and I should seek professional help at once, but I shrugged off her comments, I trusted Hermione with my life, plan and simple.

After Hermione deemed me fit to travel we left the ice cream shop, Ginny in tow. Though she did not go willingly, Harry had to stun Malfoy and then physically pick her up and carry her as though she were a child. It didn't bother me though, she was certainty behaving like one.

Once we reached the pub where we were planning on flooing home from, as we had yet to take our appariation tests, Ginny began to grow desperate. Her signature temper flared and she was yelling obscenities at Harry that would have made our mother die from the pure horror of it all. And on more than one occasion I looked behind me and saw her give Harry a swift kick in the stomach, as he had hoisted her over his shoulder.

Hermione soon grew irritated of all the strange glances that were being sent our way and spun around on her heal to face my sister's back. "Oh for heavens _sake_ Ginny will you please desist in you antics?"

Ginny kicked Harry once more in response. "If you would stop treating me like a _child_ then I would stop embarrassing you."

Harry grabbed a hold of both of her legs with his spare hand so she could no longer move them. "If you would stop acting like a child we wouldn't treat you as such."

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Eventually we all got back to the Burrow, I didn't tell either my parents, nor my brothers about the incident that had occurred. It took to much effort to recollect the events of such a long day. I never told Harry and Hermione that they weren't allowed to speak of the matter, it was simply understood.

After a few days I attempted to speak with my sister. We had been extremely close when we were young and I had always felt as though we had a connection between us; something that we shared with each other and no one else, something that made us special in a house full of overachievers. But when I walked into her room I saw with dread that that connection, the bond that had tied us, was gone. She looked at me with nothing but contempt in her eyes and I wondered what lies he had poisoned her with, what my sworn enemy could tell her that would cause her to look at her favorite brother with such hatred.

"I hate you Ronald Weasley," she spat as I entered the pink room.

I rubbed my eyes in a tired matter, too much in my life had been changing lately. "Ginny," I pleaded, "I'm not sure why you're with _him_, but know this, he is using you and he'll only break your heart. He's a Malfoy Gin, and people like him don't love anything but money and power."

"You don't know him," she said stubbornly. "I know him Ron and he isn't how you think, he is a wonderful person and I love him."

Love. I loathed the word at the moment. Only love could take a perfectly sensible girl like Ginny and cause her to turn away from her family. "You don't know him," I contradicted, "if you think that he is a 'wonderful' person then you don't know him at all Virginia. This is the same snake faced boy that made fun of you and I for years, the same boy who supported Umbridge and hoped that she would use an unforgivable on Harry, the same boy who's father tried to kill you."

"People change Ron…he's changed."

"People like him never change Ginny," I said darkly, "he's been promised to the dark side since before his birth and no amount of _love_ from you is going to change that."

  
She got up from her position on the bed and forced me out of the room. "Even if he hasn't changed he's still a better person than you."

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A/N Sorry if you don't like that Ginny and Ron are growing to hate each other but I wanted Ginny with Draco for plot reasons and I don't think that her and Ron could ever have a good relationship if she went with him. I think that there is just too much bad blood between Ron and Draco for her to have both so don't expect them to have a reconciliation anytime soon. Well, the drama is definitely beginning and Ron's life is about to get a whole lot more horrible starting next chapter. Lol, you know that you like the angst! Drop a review and I'll buy you a shoe. (If you leave a review I promise that I will never try to rhyme again, lol!)

Word up to all of my reviewers…white girl here that can't rap or try to sound cool, lol!

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Spidermonkeesrkewl (Yeah Hermione and Harry all ready knew about Ginny and Draco but Ron isn't going to figure that out until later. And I'm glad that I'm not alone on the fighting thing!), **Eveningstar **(I'm glad that you are liking the story even though you don't read that much about Ron and I'm totally with you on the Draco/Ginny thing, they are my favorite too! So of course I just had to sneak them into the story, lol!), **keeperofthemoon **(I know, the Weasley's aren't doing too good, lol! Hopefully they'll be happier next chapter but it's not likely.) **S.e.a **(*gives a big hug and _friendly _kisses* I love your story, so don't be sad! You'll get reviews, it just takes patience. And I like the fact that I'm not completely focusing on Ginny for once too, lol, I need to broaden my horizons.), **E** (Thank you for all of the compliments! Especially on the characterization, I'm trying really hard to not make them out of character.), **Ace of Spades** (Well, I didn't really put detail into the fight but I think that Draco beat Ron, being that Ron had a broken rib while Draco had a black eye. Yeah, score one for the green team. Lol, I'll shut up now and go put the pompoms away.), **Hplova4eva** (Sorry about the sort of slow update, but I promise a faster one next chapter since I'll actually be home, lol!), **fantasy angel **(Lol, I think that Draco was being cocky and didn't think that anyone would have the nerve to hit him. I just had to have him get punched though, it provided humor for me, lol!), **ToykoGal90 **(I'm glad that you like the story and here's your update!), **Silent Bob** (Ha ha, I'm so glad that you support my favorite ships! Too bad that they won't be getting along together, lol!), **luckieduck** (I know what you mean about getting mad about Ron being a death eater, I do the exact same thing because I would die if he was evil in the books! But don't worry, even though he is going to the dark side I won't have him be all hateful and evil.)


	4. A Strange Day

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summery: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize I don't own

A/N Hey sorry that the last chapter focused so much on Ginny, she has a role in this story but it isn't one of the main ones. So if you don't like her, don't worry you won't see her that much. Oh and **warning** this chapter is a little…strange. I like supernatural stuff and this kind of deals with that, if you don't like it the entire story is not going to be like this, probably just this chapter.

Chapter Three

A Strange Day

Have you ever been outside really late at night? When the fog for the night is just starting to set in and that of the chilling moon provides the only light and with just one look you know that you are completely alone. You have that sinking feeling in the very pit of your stomach that tells you that if you were to die at this instant by the hands of another the whole world would sleep through your screams.

This was one of those nights. After my final fight with Ginny I didn't feel much like company, so I took up wandering, one of my favorite pastimes at Hogwarts. But there was magic surrounding the entire grounds of the school and at night, no matter what time, all you saw were the stars and you always felt safe and protected.

But here, in the woodlands of my very own property I felt none of that, for the first time in my life I felt utterly alone. Growing up with six other children in the house, it's hard to achieve that feeling but I felt it now; and I felt it hard.

I sat down ungracefully on the ground and allowed my thoughts to overtake me. When you're young it always seems as though life is going to work out exactly how you planned, you are going to find the perfect job, the perfect spouse, have the perfect children, and you'll all live merrily ever after in the perfect house. But I had none of those things, and for the moment I felt like I would never have them.

I didn't have the perfect job. Hell, I didn't have any job. I was nowhere close to having the perfect spouse as I didn't even have a girlfriend. So, that eliminated the perfect children. And that damn perfect house could go right down the drain with them.

I heard leaves rustling behind me as if the wind was picking up. But just as quickly as the wind had started it stopped, and the leaves along with the rest of the forest were still once more.

"Ronald Weasley?" A misty sounding voice called out. I quickly got up from my place on the ground and whirled around in every direction searching for the voice that I knew belonged to no one that I had ever known.

"I've been searching for you for a long time now Ronald," the voice spoke again in the same eerie tone.

"Where are you?" I called out apprehensively.

"Over here my son," it called to me. My eyes darted around looking for someone, or something. They finally rested on a silvery mist that was a few feet behind me, just at the entrance to the woods.

I walked towards it and felt a feeling of remembrance come over me, as if I had seen this thing before. But the logical part of me knew that I hadn't, surely I would have a clear memory of a silver mist talking to me, but still…

"What are you?" I asked but somehow knew that I would not receive a straight answer.

"I am your past, present, and future. I am everything that you are, everything that you desire, and everything that you can be. I am you protector but at the same time the one you need protected from, I am every wish from you soul and every nightmare from your subconscious."

"Uh, all right then."

The mist ignored my confusion and continued to speak to me in a soothing manner. "You are unhappy Ronald. You always been unhappy, that is why I have not been able to find you."

"But why did you want to find me? What is so special about me, I'm just Ron." Even as I said the words I felt hope raising in my chest, whatever this thing was it was quite clear that it wanted _me_ and for a moment, I felt special. It didn't want Harry or Hermione and for some reason I didn't even think that it even cared who they were.

"You know why I have been searching for you Ronald. Search within yourself to find the answers that you desire."

And then it was gone. I wasn't quite sure if it was a figment of my own delusion, but every fiber of my being was shouting at me that it was real. _Search within yourself to find the answers that you desire._

What answers did I desire? I began to think logically, I obviously wanted to know what that thing was and what it wanted with me. I wanted to know what to do with my life and I wanted to know if I would ever find that person that I would love more than anything.

But at the moment, the only thing that I desired was sleep. My mother always used to tell me that everything would look better in the morning. If you are confused, sleep on it, and maybe when you wake up you'll have a new perspective and everything will be clearer.

So I walked back into the house and tried not to make much noise as I took the stairs up to my room where Harry was still asleep. And as I lay in my bed I found that I didn't feel quite so alone anymore.

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When I awoke the next morning I found that my mother's theory had been proven wrong. I didn't feel enlightened, I didn't have a new perspective, and I was still confused as hell about the entire situation. And most of all, I found that I didn't feel rested. I was every bit, if not more, tired than I was when I had went to sleep the night before. I felt as though I hadn't even sat down through the entire night, as though I had been running for hours or something.

But since I was awake I figured that I might as well try to 'search for answers inside myself.' Sounded like a self-motivation program to me.

I feigned sleep until Harry left the room and immediately placed silencing and locking charms over the door. I cleared all of my junk off of the floor and sat in the middle of it, and attempted to do that meditation stuff that we had learned in divination.

I was never one to believe in divination; hell I was actually never even one to pay attention in it. But I had briefly dated Lavender during sixth year and she placed all of her faith in it. You cannot have a relationship with her without coming out of it with a new outlook of divination. She didn't just believe in Trelawnly, she believed in the art of it all, the gift that was given to a precious few. There is something innocent about it, something pure.

And given my situation I figured that meditation was the best route to finding my answers. After all, that's what meditation is, searching within yourself. So I sat on the floor and folded my legs together in the traditional fashion, closed my eyes, and wandered my mind. 

It's easy to get lost when you are attempting to search your own soul, you can't go too far in for you might never come back out. The soul is the most precious thing that you own, it is your essence, your very being. But I didn't get lost because I didn't find anything. As a wizard when you mediate you literally go inside of your mind and your soul; but when I went soul searching I made the most shocking discovery of my young life; there was nothing there.

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A/N God I swear that sometimes I even weird out myself, lol! Again, sorry about the shortness but when I start out stories, it's easier for me to just write short chapters, I don't know why. But as the story progresses so does the chapter length. If I confused you with this chapter I apologize, please just leave questions and comments in a review and I will try my best to clear it up. And if you don't have questions or comments, leave a review anyway!

I'm pretty sure that I got all of your reviews but either my computer or ff.net is messing up so sorry if I missed someone.

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Hplova4eva (thanks for all of your reviews!), **S.e.a **(don't worry, I'm not offended at all, I love your new summery! And I completely get what you're saying about how people write Ron and Draco automatically being friends because Ginny is with him, it bugs the crap out of me, lol!), **Ace of Spades **(Lol, yes even though it is not seeming that way now it will _eventually _be a R/Hr. I seem to just have problems with getting to the main points of stories. And Ron is the person that they were talking about but not in the way that you think.), **Eveningstar** (I'm so glad that you found the irony in the last lines of the chapter! You were the only person to mention it. Sorry that Ginny turned against Ron, but come on, he needs some reasons to push him over the edge, lol!), **Kagome **(I know, right now it seems as though he barely even notices Hermione, but I've dropped a couple subtle hints and I feel like Ron is incredibly thick and it would take something huge to get him to realize if he feels something more.), **RonandHerm4eva **(I must admit that it was your story The Other Side of Hermione that got me wanting to write my own R/Hr. I finally got around to reading it and I left you a review but for some reason ff.net won't let me send reviews so I'm not sure if you got it. If not then I loved it so much and I am now reading the sequel. I'm really glad that you are liking this story, and I'll try to leave you more reviews, but sorry if you don't receive them!)


	5. A Day of Revelations

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summery: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

  
Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize I don't own

Chapter Four

A Day of Revelations

I felt panic start to rise inside of me, how could I just be _empty_? I placed my head in my hands and felt my body shake in utter disbelief.

I didn't have a soul.

How was I even alive? I thought that everyone had a soul, where was mine?

Even you-know-who has a soul, black as it may be.

Oh good gracious, I am worse then V…Vol…he-who-must-not-be-named.

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain go straight through my head and felt myself involuntarily flinch at the sting. I needed help, I needed answers, I needed someone brilliant, I needed Hermione.

I quickly stood up, grabbed my wand and took the charms off of the door. I then bounded down the hallway to Ginny's room where I knew that Hermione was currently residing.

I lifted my arm to knock on the door but hesitated with apprehension when I looked at the block letters spelling out Ginny's name on her door. I took a deep breath and sincerely hoped that my sister was not in her room as I bravely knocked on the door.

It opened a second later and I let out a sigh of relief when I saw only a sea of brown hair, not a trace or red in sight.

"Hermione," I began in a nervous shaky tone. "Can I talk to you about something?"

She flashed me a concerned look before ushering me into the room. "What's wrong Ron? You look so pale, are you ill?"

I shook my head slightly, "I don't really know." We sat down on the spare cot that Hermione was sleeping on and I prepared myself for my line of strange questioning. "Hermione, I wanted to ask you some things and I'll forewarn you that they are strange but please just answer them to the best of your ability and don't ask me any questions in return."

"All right Ron," she said slowly, "whatever you want."

I nodded and took a deep breath. "Have you…I mean do you know of any…is it normal for…" All right so that didn't work out too well. I mentally shook myself and tried again, best to just get it out. "Have you ever heard of someone not having a soul?" I asked very quickly.

"Not having a soul?" She repeated. I nodded and she went into deep thought. "Hmm, well it is _highly _irregular but I have actually read of a few such occurrences." She got up from the temporary bed and began to rummage through her trunk. After a few minutes and a triumphant cry she held up a book with the title _You Thought That You Were Strange: A Record of the Most Unusual Magical Occurrences_.

She held it out to me with a smile and I reluctantly took it, spying that the book appeared to be larger than Hermione.

"There you go," she said happily, "I'm so excited to see you taking an interest in something. You know the field of Unusual Magical Occurrences is a dying one but I do believe that if you set your mind to it you could bring that department of the Ministry back to life! Oh Ron," she gushed, "you are such a pioneer!"

I tried my best not to look completely lost and confused. "Uh, yeah, well you know, everyone has to have a…career?"

She nodded vigorously, "yes I am so very glad to see you wanting to help those less magically fortunate."

I merely nodded and decided that it would be best if I got out of the room as quickly as possible before I said something utterly idiotic. "Yes, well I best be going then." 

I made it back to my room in a record amount of time and found that I was running short on breath from simply carrying the stupid book. As soon as the door was clicked shut by my leaning against it I released the book and heard it hit the ground with a very loud thud.

After taking several overdramatic gasps for air I placed a locking charm on the door and joined the beast of a book on the floor. I immediately flipped back to the index of the book and searched under souls. When I found a section labeled _Souls, or lack thereof_ I figured that was my best bet and turned to the page that was listed.

__

No Soul? No Problem!

By: Dr. Cleo Freud

For many years now it has been a subject of extreme controversy that there are those who have existed in this world without souls. Otherwise known as the damned the soulless are thought to be descendants of vampires; but what if they were not relatives of these dark creatures?

New evidence has shed astounding light on the subject. Throughout history there have been five seers that have been publicly known as 'true' seers. While there have been several others with the sight they are not whole seers. They glimpse into the future, but a true seer has the ability to shape, change, and mold the future at their own will.

It has been centuries since the Wizarding world has seen a seer of this magnitude. But many ask how they are able to grasp this gift, how a 'true' seer becomes just that. The answer is simple, they have no soul. They are able to change the future because it does not affect them.

A 'true' seer never dies. Their mortal body may pass, but their mind never does. Because they have no soul to pass on to another world they are doomed to live forever. Their mind is said to be taken to The Eternal Wandering where they foresee endless possibilities of the future until it ultimately drives the mind to madness.

I shut the book quickly as I could not stand to read anymore. It didn't mean anything, I tried to reason with myself. Just because my soul was temporarily missing that did not mean that I didn't have one.

I wasn't a 'true' seer. The person who wrote the article was obviously guessing on the subject. If there hasn't been one of these in centuries then they couldn't know anything about the subject, right?

I felt my breathing hasten, what if I was a seer? What if my mind was doomed to be immortal, what if I had no soul? I would never love, never feel, never know the difference between right and wrong, good and evil. I would only know the future, and what sort of future was that for me?

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I feigned sleep until everyone else in the house was lying peacefully in their beds. I had to find that thing, it held the answers that I wanted, I just _knew_ it.

But finding that thing proved to be less then easy. I went back to the woods where it first appeared and waited for it. I quickly grew tired of simply waiting so I walked around, searched for it. I even called out for it. But since I had no idea what it was I was walking around the woods yelling out "hey you silver misty thing!" And that didn't appear crazy or anything.

Feeling defeated I plopped down on the ground ungracefully. After a few moments I heard a rustle in the leaves and I quickly sprang up from my laying position, determined to catch the thing.

But as I was jumping around in every direction searching for it the only thing that I found was a frightened Hermione. I sighed, half in relief and half in disappointment; it wasn't back.

"Ron?" She asked apprehensively, "are you all right?"

"Fine," I answered, "absolutely bloody peachy."

She gave me a concerned look and moved a few steps closer. "I've been worried about you for the past few days Ron. You've just been acting…different. Are you quite sure you're okay?"

I walked over to her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "I'm fine," I said while leading her back into the house, "you have nothing to worry about."

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A/N Okay I wrote the last half of this doped up on pain medication so I'm not really sure how much sense it made, but hopefully you are all following. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I'm not doing personal shout outs this chapter because I feel about ready to pass out but I promise to get around to it next chapter, which should be out by the middle of the week. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, as I'm sure that you are all probably confused, lol. And be sure to leave your author get well cookies and ice cream, lol!

Oh and when Hermione gave Ron that book she thought that he was interested in it because he wanted to work in the Unusual Magical Occurrences section of the Ministry in case anyone didn't get that. 


	6. Career Day

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summery: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize I don't own

A/N I'm really sorry that it's been over a week since I last updated this story. I have been so busy lately I haven't had time to work on any of the stories that I have on ff.net. I have to get some original stuff together so I can get into this writing class that I wanted to take, so that's taking priority right now.

Chapter Five

Career Day

I awoke the next morning after only a few hours of sleep. I found the house to still be dark and quiet and decided to take advantage of the opportunity at hand. I quickly found some parchment and scribbled down a note stating that I had errands to run and would return shortly.

What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. I grabbed a fistful of floo powder and went straight to Hogsmeade, where I hoped that there was less of a chance of seeing someone that I knew.

When I arrived I looked down mournfully at my now soot covered clothes; I was really going to have to learn how to apparate. I brushed myself off the best that I could and left the pub that I had came into to.

I smiled at my decision to come to Hogsmeade upon walking out onto the street, which was currently empty. Diagon Alley is busy no matter what time you go there, and you can always be guaranteed that you will see at least one person that you know.

  
Well I didn't want to see anyone that I knew. And I didn't want anyone I knew to see me, so this was all for the better. If I was going to be made a fool I better be bloody well sure that I could suffer the embarrassment on my own and not burden my friends and family with it.

I had been told in extreme discretion that if you wanted to find a job, you would find it in the morning that you wanted it the most. Or rather, it would find you. I am well aware that it sounds like a strange myth, but my brother Bill had no direction in life after Hogwarts -a fact that he has mentioned to me alone- and one day he was walking around Diagon Alley feeling sorry for himself when he tripped over a goblin.

Now normally goblins are mean feisty little creatures that will kick and bite you if you did something such as trip over them, but this particular goblin was every bit as depressed as Bill. They were understaffed at the moment at Gringotts and had no way of keeping up with their ever-growing business. They only had goblins working at that time, it was an unofficial rule of theirs, but since goblins were a dying breed help was hard to come by.

So the goblin was walking searching for an answer, when according to Bill, he slammed straight into one. After a few drinks with my eldest brother the goblin decided that wizards and witches were the way to go. They would hire people to work for them. And so they hired Bill, and he has been there ever since.

It sounds like a long and farfetched story but Bill staked his life on it. And I'm getting really desperate, so here I am, walking the streets of Hogsmeade waiting to walk straight into the answer that I have been waiting for.

I stood on the street for about five minutes before feeling absolutely silly. I looked around and noticed some of the shops; maybe my answer was in one of those.

My eyes quickly scanned the row of shops before falling onto Honeydukes. I licked my lips at the thought of having a sweet, but I knew that I must choose another store, whom could I possibly meet in a candy shop? Finally though my appetite won out over my sensibility and I made my way to the shop with a smile playing on my lips.

I vaguely registered that a bell had loudly chimed at my entrance to the store as I walked down the nearest aisle. As I was looking around for the sugar quills I saw another customer walking down the opposite side of the aisle. As he walked closer I saw that to my surprise that none other than Albus Dumbledore was coming towards me with an ever-present twinkle in his eyes.

"Mr. Weasley," he said pleasantly, "I did not expect to find you on my weekly trip for sweets. It is a little early, is it not, for you to be in Hogsmeade?"

I shifted my eyes away in discomfort, "um, yeah, well you know, never too early for a sugar fix."

He smiled slightly, "indeed. Perhaps if you are not too busy you would not mind joining me for a drink; I have always been rather fond of butterbeer in the morning."

I lifted my eyebrows in my confusion; the headmaster wanted me to join him for a butterbeer? But then again, a drink did sound rather appealing… "Sure," I said with a shrug, "I would love to join you for a drink Professor Dumbledore."

The headmaster held up a hand in defense, "please Mr. Weasley, you are no longer my student, you may call me Albus."

"Uh, all right then, Albus." God, now I felt old. The only people that I knew that called him Albus where my parents and people just as old as my parents. All of my brothers still called him Professor Dumbledore; it just seemed strange to call him anything else.

I spotted the sugar quills and quickly grabbed a box. I made my way to the counter with Profes-Albus and we respectively paid for our purchases.

I found my heartbeat picking up as we walked to the Three Broomsticks. I had always been uncomfortable to be alone in the presence of the headmaster. I silently wished that Hermione were with me, she would not allow me to say anything embarrassing or stupid.

But I didn't have Hermione; I would face the situation alone. We reached our destination in silence, only broken by Dumbledore greeting the waiter who was near the door. We took our seats and hastily ordered two butterbeers.

"So tell me Ronald, how have you been since your graduation?"

"Fine, everything has been going really well," I lied quickly.

"Ah, yes I did hear about your…interesting day in Diagon Alley with your sister and a certain Mr. Malfoy." I looked up at him in surprise and saw with some annoyance that he looked extremely amused.

"Yes well it seems that my sister has presently lost her mind, we are hoping for a quick recovery." I was gratified to see that his amusement faded slightly, this was not a laughing situation.

"Ronald, may I be frank with you?"

I resisted the urge to answer; sure can I still be Ron? "Of course."

"I know a great deal of things that go on in my school, I knew when Virginia began seeing young Malfoy. I will not indulge you in lies that he has changed, that he fights for the light; for he is neutral at the moment."

I gave an agitated groan, "why are you telling me this?"

He ignored my obvious plea for the conversation to end. "She is happy Ronald, and while I have not always been aware of his intentions I would daresay that he is happy also."

The butterbeers arrived and I took an immediate swig of one. "She is acting selfishly, she doesn't care what this will do to our family, she only cares about herself."

"But love," he said with a smile, "is never selfish." I glared at my former headmaster and he dropped the subject with a sigh, "I see that there is no changing your mind on the matter. This is not the matter which I felt important to discuss with you anyhow."

"And what," I said grateful to have something else to talk about, "did you want to talk to me about?"

"What are you planning to do, now that you are finished with school Ronald?"

I cast my eyes down on my drink, ashamed of my lack of direction. "I do not know."

His smile returned as he leaned back in his chair. "Have any of your family members told you of the demise of the Order?"

I quickly looked up, surprise evident in my face, "there isn't an Order of the Phoenix anymore?"

"I fear," he said looking at me gravely, "that we were too anxious for recruits and warriors for the light."

"But, what about the war? What's going to happen, are you just giving up?"

"I would never just 'give up' Ronald, I am merely seeking alternate means."

I nodded as if I understood exactly what he was talking about; but I had no clue. This was horrible; the Order was the only hope that I saw that we had against you-know-who. "Why did you stop it though, what happened to make the Order fail?"

"Are you aware of Professor Snape's current situation Ronald?"

I searched my mind for anything on the subject but came up with nothing. He had not been around for the last few weeks of school; we had heard that he was on a mission of some sorts. Then it clicked in my mind, he must have went back to the dark side! I always knew that he would be a traitor. "Did he betray us sir?"

Dumbledore looked at me sternly, "Severus would never betray the Order, of that I am sure. No Ronald, he was found out by Voldemort," I flinched noticeably, "I fear that no one has heard from him or of him in weeks."

I was slightly embarrassed that I had just been scolded for my quick accusations. "How was he found out?" 

"Voldemort," I cringed again, "sent one of his own to spy on the Order. I am afraid that it was someone that I had trusted once and apparently was too quick to trust again. He now knows of all the members and is doing all he can to capture them all. I terminated the Order to ensure the safety of its members."

I felt bad that Professor Snape had been found out but couldn't bring myself to feel regret. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

Dumbledore no longer looked amused and happy, "because Ronald while the Order is no more we still need warriors. Without Severus I have no way of knowing what is happening on the other side. I am recruiting you."

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A/N All right so did everyone see that coming? Hopefully not. Ron is still going to be eventually dark but I really think that it would take a lot for him to go to that side, a hell of a lot more than some simple jealously over Harry. If you have any questions please leave them in a review or feel free to e-mail me. Also, please leave a review even if you have no questions, it's always nice to know that people are following my stories. Later!

Thank you so much to:

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Ace of Spades (Ha, yeah 'Cleo' was always one of my favorite infomercial people to make fun of…I think that she is currently in jail somewhere.), **Silent Bob 546 **(Aw, thanks for the cookies and ice cream! I'm much better now though, thank goodness, because it sucked so much to not be able to eat!), **Eveningstar5** (I know, sorry about the short chapters. This one was a little longer though! I'll try to make them longer in the future, I promise!), **Lily~Evans **(Of course I'm still working on this, lol, you can't get rid of me that easily. Updates will just be slow for awhile though because I'm really busy.), **o0true0o** (Well I haven't really _said_ that he is a seer yet…but I think that it's easy to guess. What predictions has he made in the books? I have a really bad memory about that sort of stuff.), **Godes of the Moon** (Lol, it will definitely be a while before the 'fluff' comes into the picture. I'm a sucker for it though so there will be some before the end of the story!), **tiffany-45 **(thank you! I'm glad that you are following the story without any problems and it is very nice to hear that you think it's different from all the other stories!), **RonandHerm4eva **(Ha, nice to know that I can still write while doped up. I had to get my wisdom teeth out last week so that's what I was suffering through. I looked really pathetic sitting at my computer with my mouth all puffed out, lol.), **Micemix**( All right, so we all know that Voldemort will die in the last book, but we'll just pretend that he didn't so my story can work, lol. You're right though, if Ron was a true seer Voldemort would want him. This will be a R/Hr, but not for some time.), **Stompy-Sanji **(Thank you so much, I'm glad that you like the plot idea. Thanks for reading Cruel Beauty as well, and to answer your question Velena took in Ginny as a final revenge against her sister, to make Ginny evil. I'll be sure to send you out an e-mail too.), **FantasyAngel Writer **(Well, _I _ know what the silver misty thing is but I would really love to hear what you think it is! I assure you that you're probably right, and even if you're not I won't laugh or anything. And I really like your comparison between Ron and Voldemort, but only time will tell on that one, lol.)

I'll try to get the next chapter out soon!


	7. A Day of Doubts

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summery: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize I don't own

Chapter Six

A Day of Doubts

I closed my eyes for a moment before opening them again, what had he just said? "Uh, excuse me Professor but I thought that you just said that you were recruiting me."

"I did."

"Oh."

And so we sat in silence, me wondering just what the hell was going on, Dumbledore with a bemused expression on his face. I opened my mouth and hoped that something intelligent would come out, "why?" Well, so much for that wish.

He folded his hands together and sat them down on the table, "why not?"

I flinched in irritation; I hated it when people answered questions with a question in return. "Have you all ready talked to Harry and Hermione? What did they say about working for you?"

"I have not spoken to Mr. Potter nor Miss Granger and I do not intend to, I only wanted you."

My eyes widened in surprise, "but, _why_? Surely Harry and Hermione are better suited for this type of thing."

He smiled, but did not look all that amused. "I fear that you underestimate yourself Mr. Weasley. While Mr. Potter has experience and bravery he too much thinks with his heart. He would gladly sacrifice himself, and could be easily tricked into trusting those who he shouldn't. As for Miss Granger, she lacks the warrior instinct that is needed for survival in this sort of position."

"You, you think that I have those things? I don't have 'warrior instinct' and I doubt that I would survive more than five seconds in the presence of V…Vol…you-know-who."

He bent down and reached into his sack from Honeydukes and pulled out a lemon drop, "would you care for one Mr. Weasley." I shook my head and wished that he would stop stalling. "I would, of course, not start you out with spying on Voldemort. You would do simpler tasks to begin with and it would be entirely up to you if you chose to continue with the missions as given."

I licked my suddenly dry lips, "would it be dangerous?"

"Isn't everything in life dangerous to some extent?"

"But," I said somewhat desperately running out of excuses, "this was Snape's job and look where it got him."

Dumbledore frowned and let out a sigh. "I cannot promise you that you will be safe, but Severus never regretted his job. No matter what has happened to him he always knew that it was for the greater good, and he was willing to go into every mission knowing that he may not come back out of it alive. So I suppose the question is, what are you willing to die for Ronald?"

__

What are you willing to die for? The words ringed in my ears and set something off inside of me. Was I the true Gryffindor that I was supposed to be? What was I willing to die for? "The innocent."

His smile returned as he stood and flipped a couple galleons on the table. "Don't make any decisions now, take some time to think about it. I'll be at Hogwarts whenever you wish to contact me and speak of this to no one, not even Mr. Potter and Miss Granger."

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I wondered around for a while attempting to sort out my thoughts. I kept mentally debating with myself, one minute I was all for the 'spy' thing, the next all I wanted was to go home and forget the entire day.

I did end up at home, but not with the intentions of forgetting the day. I went up to my room and gratefully found it empty. After taking the proper measures to ensure that it would stay that way I sat down on my unsteady mattress and lost myself in my thoughts once more.

With a sigh I leaned back against the wall and shut my eyes, only to rest for a few minutes. Satisfied with how calm I suddenly felt I opened them again, only to find that I was no longer in my room but instead in a lavishly decorated hall that was nowhere near the Burrow.

I looked around in confusion and decided that I most have fallen asleep, this was only a dream. Suddenly the door was thrown open and two men were dragging a third man between them with his knees scraping on the ground.

I walked towards them in interest but found my interest quickly turning to horror when I saw the person that they were dragging was me. I gasped and unconsciously recoiled from the shattered and beaten version of myself.

It's just a dream, it's just a dream, I told myself repeatedly. But it didn't feel like a dream, it felt…different.

"Bring him to me!" A loud voice broke my thoughts, I followed the guards that were dragging the dream me with my eyes and saw a dark figure sitting highly up on a throne that I hadn't noticed before.

He stepped down and walked towards the other me with a catlike gracefulness that I did not expect to see from him. He pulled down his hood and I jerked my eyes away as if I had been staring at the sun or something equally bright. He was hideous.

His pale skin was unlike any that I had ever seen before; it was so unnatural the tone of it alone was enough to make anyone retch. But that wasn't even the worst part of his only exposed body part. The worst part was the thing that would haunt me for the rest of my days, his blood red eyes.

"Ronald," he hissed, "I've known about you from day one."

I felt my breathing hasten as I recalled the few times that Harry had spoken of his experiences with you-know-who, he had always said that he had snakelike features with horrible red eyes. I attempted to control my breathing as I watched myself glare at him.

"Somehow I doubt that," the other me said with more viciousness than I had ever thought myself capable of.

He laughed hollowly and brought his spider like hands down to grasp the dream me's chin. "It amused me to toy with you just as it did with Severus. Do you know that your girlfriend is dead?"

The other me jerked his head away, "you're lying."

"But Ronald, why would I lie when the truth is so much fun?" He snapped his fingers and instantly someone came into the room holding a bloody piece of ribbon. Once the ribbon was in his hand he shoved it in front of the other Ron's face, "this is all that's left of her now. You were the one to put this in her hair this morning were you not?"

The other Ron's brave cold face now fell as he looked at the ribbon with a huge amount of compassion. "No, it's not true," he murmured to himself, "she can't be gone."

He-who-must-not-be-named only smiled, "she was quite the fighter you know, a feisty little thing if I ever did see one."

Dream Ron's head snapped up and an angry scowl came across his face, "I swear that I'll kill you for this."

"I was rather hoping that you would say that."

Then there was silence, and I was alone once more sitting on my bed in my room. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest and took several deep breaths knowing one thing, that was _not _a dream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I confined myself to my the solitude of my bedroom for several hours, not wanting to see anyone in fear that I would burst and tell them everything that had been happening to me in the past few days.

I wanted more than anything to confide in Harry and Hermione; they had always been there for me to give advice and help. Out of my respect for Dumbledore and confusion on the situation I said nothing and saw no one to take out the possibility of temptation.

However, by the time dinner was being served I was starving and the rest of the household was starting to grow suspicious about my strange behavior. I joined the rest of my family along with Harry and Hermione at the table and avoided eye contact with anyone. Eat and get out, that was my motto.

"Ron," Hermione said quietly as she was sitting beside me, "where have you been all day?"

I kept my eyes cast down on my food, "I had to go out."

"Well obviously," she said stiffly. "What took you all day to do though?"

"I was meeting someone."

I gathered up enough wits to look at her and saw that her face betrayed a hurt expression. "Oh, all right then. Was it Lavender?"

"Lavender?" I asked in an incredulous tone, "I haven't seen her since graduation and it's been months since we even talked."

She smiled and no longer looked indignant. "I just couldn't figure out where you were and you and her were always kind of dating the last few years of school, so I thought that perhaps you were with her. It was quite silly of me really, I know that you don't like her anymore."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, not understanding why she was rambling and acting nervous. "Yeah," I said slowly, "well now you know. If you'll excuse me I have to go write a letter to someone."

Her eyes followed me as I left the table and I felt my face grow hot at my lame excuse to leave. I didn't trust myself to not tell her exactly where I had been that day so I knew that it was for the best to just get out as soon as possible.

I needed to figure out what to do, and not just about Dumbledore's offer. What had happened to me when I was in my room? I thought briefly of the day that I had gotten into a fight with Malfoy and the strange dream that I had while I was unconscious. 

Perhaps that wasn't a dream either, I couldn't remember exactly how it felt but they had to be the same type of thing. 

__

True seers don't have souls.

That would easily explain my strange occurrences and the fact that I had no soul. But the logical part of my being reasoned that if I were a seer wouldn't I have known it before now?

Was I a true seer? It was beginning to look like a possibility. 

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A/N Hmm, I feel like that chapter kind of dragged. It was kind of a transition chapter more than anything. And in case anyone cares that whole Ron and dream Ron thing was a pain in the ass to write, I tried really hard to make it so it wasn't confusing, so I hope that it worked out. Also, I know that it was short; I swear that I will make an effort to make future chapters longer. Lol, but notice that I said effort, that doesn't guarantee results. 

Thank you to:

****

RonandHerm4eva (Ha, yes I thought that if I put the story in that direction that it would give me a lot of room and leverage on the plot. Sorry that you had to go to work, that sucks, lol.), **charmedfan01** (I'm glad that you like how it's Ron's p.o.v., I've always enjoyed writing from the first person because I feel that it gives you the opportunity to really explore and get to know the character. And now I'm rambling so I'll just shut up, lol.), **Ace of Spades **(I got _The Count of Monte Cristo _from my library and I must say that I have loved what I've read so far. Now I kind of wish that I hadn't watched the movie first…oh well it was a good movie.), **Me **(Haha, glad that I surprised you with a twist! I always felt bad for Ron in the books because it seems like he gets Harry's leftovers. Well Harry isn't getting recruited, lol.), **Clichet **(Lol, well you're going to have to cope with the curiosity of knowing who the spy was for a while because it's going to be sometime before Ron finds out that. Glad that you think this is original!), **Siora **(Wow, thanks so much for the compliment! I'm trying to update as much as I can but school is starting and I have orientation all day for the next two days…not fun stuff, but required stuff, lol.), **Slim Shady **(Hmm, Voldemort tricking him with the soul? I never thought of that one before but now I kind of wish that I had, lol. I think that the silver misty thing will be returning next chapter and if it does then you'll definitely know what it is.), **FantasyAngel Writer **(I can't tell you if you're wrong or right on the misty thing, but I can say that look out for the next chapter because Ron should be discovering what it is then. And I like your ideas on how Ron goes dark!), **BabyJJ **(Hmm, well I think that they will have very interesting reactions to that, lol. Guess that you'll just have to stick around to find out!), **Syvixxe**(Thanks for the advice and don't worry, I'll be sure to go slow with Ron, the last thing that I want is for him to wake up one day and be like "hmm, I think that I want to be evil now." Lol.), **Angl **(Lol your review cracked me up. It kept me entertained for a good five minutes. I hope that Bob is okay, send my love if he's not!), **Talia Moon **(Thank you, I'm glad that you're enjoying the story!), **Trempush **(Glad that you think that Ron being a death eater is interesting, I thought so too.), **Hplova4eva **(Here's your update, sorry that it took me like a week to get it up!), **cosmos**(Good job on guessing what would happen in the story, I'm happy for you too!), **tiffany-45 **(Lol, you like angst don't you? Well hopefully you do because lord knows that this story is going to be full of drama. I'm glad that you're excited about the story, that's always nice to know!), **Eveningstar5 **(Thank you, I'm glad that you agree with me. It always pisses me off when authors put Ron on the dark side because he hated Harry. I think that he is very loyal and while he is sometimes jealous by nature, who wouldn't be if they were in his position? Okay I'm on a rant now so I just stop, lol.), **Shakespeare's Muse **(Thanks for pointing that out to me, I reread that part and I completely agree with you, he doesn't normally talk that way…it's more how I talk, lol. Btw in one part of the story he says I'll and I had it I will but I thought of you and changed it, lol, just in case you care to know that. Sorry that you have writer's block! If you have AOL instant messenger my screen name is cashew1986 if you want me to try and help you work out something.), **KeeperOfTheMoon **(Lol, sorry for the wait on the update but I'm really glad to know that you are loving the story!), **koolcat **(Thank you and I'm glad that you're liking the story. And you're right it is going to take some major stuff to get him on the dark side. But as a hint it will really be more of a lot of things put together than one huge thing.), **Silent Bob 546 **(Ha, my thoughts exactly! Poor Ron is always neglected it seems like. Glad that you're liking the story!)


	8. A Day of Compromising Situations

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summery: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize I don't own

A/N I am so sorry!!! I got so caught up in school and other things that I completely forgot about this story! Feel free to give me a good swift kick or something.

Chapter Seven

A Day of Compromising Situations

I walked through the halls of Hogwarts and felt out of place, even though it had been my second home less than a month ago. It's strange how once you move on from one situation everything that was once so familiar becomes foreign. I felt like an adult, someone who would walk through the school with a purpose in mind and the students would gaze at in wonder, questions filling their young minds about why I had come, what important business I must have.

It scared me. I was a grownup. I could no longer do stupid things and write them off as being young and naïve. I was expected to act my age and be able to hold many responsibilities. I was on my way to make one of the most important decisions of my life and I was scared out of my wits.

I desperately wished that I wasn't alone, that I could have someone to comfort me and share in this anxiety. All my life I have had at least one person there, someone who would cover for me and make sure that everything turned out okay. I always knew that if nothing else my parents would do anything for me. No matter what trouble I got into I could turn to them and they would make it all go away. They would take my responsibilities from me and handle things, leaving me free to bask in my adolescence.

But I'm of age now and I can no longer run off to my parents and expect them to chase away all of my demons. It was time for me to grow-up, no matter how much I wanted to stay young.

With a heavy sigh I cursed myself for ever feeling any jealousy for Harry. He had never had any parents; never had anyone to lift his responsibilities and promise him that everything would work out okay. He'd been an adult when he was still but a child and I knew that he wouldn't be facing this situation with any fear or anxiety. For almost eleven years he was alone in the world and he never complained of it to anyone, not even me, his best friend. I felt ashamed that I was feeling so much self-pity because I finally had to take on my own responsibilities. I vowed then that I would be the man that I was expected to be; I didn't need anyone else and I wouldn't wish for anyone else, I would be able to handle everything on my own.

So with my courage and my wits gathered I found myself standing outside of the headmaster's office ready to make my decision, though not entirely ready to follow through with it.

"Mr. Weasley, I have been expecting you for some time now." I slowly turned around to confront the voice behind me, that extra time that I wanted to prepare myself evaporated and I was left looking like a child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar standing in front of Albus Dumbledore.

"Hello…Albus," I said in as calm of a voice I could manage.

He made a gesture towards the gargoyle that guarded his office, "shall we continue this in more privacy?"

I nodded slowly and followed him with apprehension up the stars to the most interesting room that he called his office. Without being asked I took a seat opposite of his desk and decided that it would be best to just make haste about the situation. "I've made up my mind," I stated trying desperately to sound sure of myself.

"Is that so," he asked with a smile, "well do tell me Ronald, for I have been most anxiously awaiting your decision."

"I've decided that," I took a quick glance around the room and noticed all of the portraits of the past headmasters paying rapt attention to the conversation proceeding between Dumbledore and myself. "I've decided that…I'll do it, I'll be a spy or agent or whatever."

He leaned back in his chair and observed me with his cheerful eyes, "I had rather hoped that you would."

Well, after this I wasn't really sure where things were supposed to go. I hadn't really gotten past the agreeing to spy thing in my mind so at this point I was at a complete loss. "So," I said in a somewhat causal tone, "when do I start?"

Dumbledore drummed his fingers along his desk for a moment before pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill. After he scribbled something he handed the paper to me, "go to this address exactly three days from now and we'll go from there."

I took a quick glance at the clock in the room to know what time I was supposed to go to this address before standing. "Well," I said trying to sound like that Bond fellow that Hermione had forced me to watch movies of, "until then."

And so I walked out of the headmaster's office feeling like a complete idiot. I knew one thing; I was no Jimmy Bond or whatever that muggle fellow's name was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was a now officially a spy.

The words just kept playing in my head, I, Ronald Weasley am a secret agent. And despite all the dangers that I knew followed with the position at the time all that I could think of was how bloody cool it was to be able to say, "hello, my name is Ron Weasley, secret agent."

And it was in these moments when I had surrendered myself to realizing that I was living out every child's fantasy that I didn't bother to put any locking charms on my door. So I was caught by Hermione standing in front of my mirror saying, "the name's Weasley. Ron Weasley."

Let's just say that after I heard her stifling a laugh I no longer felt quite so cool.

"I, uh, see what I was doing was…" I searched my mind desperately for any explanation that would not make me look like a completely stupid, "I was practicing for my…job interview!" Ha, that was believable.

Hermione stopped smiling, "you have a job interview? Ron that's great! Where's it at?"

Smooth Weasley, real smooth. Now I had to think up another lie. "Where's what at?" I stalled lamely.

She gave me an incredulous look, "your job interview."

"Oh," I said as if everything had just clicked together for me, "that. It's at the ministry."

"What part?"

"The uh, main part."

She looked confused, "you mean the head portion where the minister and such work?" I nodded dumbly and prayed to God that she would just drop the subject. But she didn't drop the subject, because that would just be too much to ask for my sanity. "Ron that is absolutely fantastic, it's extremely difficult to even be considered for one of those jobs unless you have a lot of experience. _I_ wasn't even able to get an interview," she let out a gasp and started to talk very quickly, "not that I think that I'm smarter than you Ron or that you don't deserve an interview, because you do. In fact you deserve the job, whatever job that is and-"

"Hermione," I interrupted gently, "you're rambling."

"Oh," she said looking flushed, "sorry."

I smiled and shook my head at my best friend, "you know what Mione' you've been acting a little bit strange lately. If you're not careful people might start to think that you're losing brain cells."

Hermione grinned but even I could see that she didn't think anything was funny. "I suppose that I'm just nervous about starting at a new school," she offered as an excuse.

My smile widened and I placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "don't worry about it, you'll be the smartest person there and just think, there will be an entire new library for you to discover."

"Ron," she said in a nervous tone, "I've been thinking lately and I've come to the conclusion that-"

"RON!!!" My mother's shrill voice interrupted, "dinner!"

I let out a sigh that my mother had broken the fact that Hermione was going to tell me what was bothering her. "You were saying?" I questioned hopefully.

She looked half relieved and half disappointed, "nothing." Her face brightened up but her happy expression looked strained, "you know what, I don't even remember what I wanted to say…let's go eat."

She walked out of my room and I followed slowly behind with one thing going through my mind; Hermione never forgot anything.

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A/N Not really a lot of drama and angst in this chapter…I'm in a pretty good mood so I snuck in some humor, though I might be the only one who found anything funny, lol. Well leave a review and I swear on everything holy that I will update as soon as I possibly can!

Thank you for your patience for this chapter:

****

Stompy-Sanji (Hmm, I'm actually not completely sure when the Ron/Hermione romance is going to start. I'm debating between having them get together before he goes dark or after…what do you think?), **Andieemail** (Well now if I tell you what the silver misty thing was then that will just ruin the surprise, lol. Don't worry you'll find out soon, but rest assured in your guesses.), **KeeperOfTheMoon **(Lol, I hope nothing happens to *cough* Hermione *cough* either. But given my psychotic tendency to kill off people I wouldn't be too sure of anything, lol.) **Hplova4eva **(Glad that you're enjoying it and thanks for reviewing!), **Gen Eveningstar **(Well I could not tell you for plot reasons…and I think that I will do that, lol. You'll find out soon what his 'dreams' are, and it's probably exactly what you think.), **o0true0o** (Lol, oh you underestimate the thickness that is Ron. He hasn't quite put everything together yet, don't worry though he will eventually.), **RonandHerm4eva **(Well maybe you don't feel so sorry for Ron now, happy Ron was in this chapter, lol, I'm retarded just don't pay attention to me. Sorry that it took me so long to update!), **Funness **(Glad that you think that the story's cool, and sorry about the delay in updating!), **alina2 **(thank you! I'm glad that you're enjoying the story!), **Shakespeare's Muse **(Now now don't jump to conclusions, did I ever say the girl who died in the dream/vision was Hermione? Lol, I enjoy being evil. Sorry about the lemon drop thing…I'm uh, American? Is that a good enough excuse?), **Me **(I'm not really sure when the whole R/Hr thing is going to happen. I can't decide really…do you think it should be before he goes dark or after?), **Fantasyangel Writer **(If there is one thing that I hate it's a predictable ending. Lol, expect the unexpected with this story, meaning happy ending not promised. And did I saw that the girl who was killed was Hermione? Lol, think about it.)


	9. Training Day

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summery: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize, I don't own

A/N Sorry about the delay in updating again, school and work have been competing with each other to see which can kill me with stress faster. This chapter is starting out at Ron's first day of 'spy training.'

Chapter Nine

Training Day (lol, awesome movie!)

I spit out a mouthful of blood and flashed a look of hatred towards the cause of the extreme amount of pain that now resided in the right side of my face.

"Was that necessary?" I asked venomously.

He shrugged and gave me a friendly smile, "it's only my job to train you kid, it's not my problem if you can't handle a swift kick to the mouth."

"Yeah well," I said with a scowl, "you could bloody well warn me before the next time you attempt to leave me toothless."

The fit trainer let out a hearty laugh, "that's a good one kid, I'd love to see you say it to a death eater when you're fighting them."

I shook my head in irritation as I found nothing funny about the present situation. The place where Dumbledore had wanted me to go turned out to be some hidden training facility where I was supposed to be whipped into shape and become a 'master of espionage.' It turned out that all this meant was that for six hours everyday I was going to get the shit beat out of me by my way too friendly trainer, Mark.

"All right," Mark said happily, "I think that's enough of the physical training for today."

"Thank God," I mumbled before stumbling towards the door, wincing at every step.

Mark cleared his throat loudly and I slowly turned around with a questioning glare on my face. "I said we were done with the physical training," he clarified, "not done for the day."

I cringed at his words and slowly walked back over to him feeling my body bruising over with each step. Mark took out his wand and conjured up a table and two chairs with ease. He gestured for me to take a seat and I gladly complied.

"So kid," he said, for once not having a goofy grin on his features, "do you know exactly what to expect from all of this?"

I shrugged and immediately regretted the action as it only caused more pain. "I don't know, just gather information and get beat up by you."

Mark gave a sigh and ran a hand through his dark hair by habit, "I think that you have a right to know how much danger is involved with this lifestyle-and don't fool yourself, it is a lifestyle; not a job-there are problems everywhere and you could be killed at any second and no one would give a damn. It is imperative that you sever all connections that you presently have. Unless you want all of them killed to get to you end all ties with your family and friends. If you go through with this you go through it alone; don't fuck up their lives with your decisions, understand?"

I closed my eyes to take in all of this information. Just what was I getting myself into here? "So," I said cautiously, "this is like a suicide job then? You come in, but you don't come out."

"Not necessarily, I have complete faith in the fact that I will live to see a ripe old age."

I raised my eyes to Mark in confusion, "but you just said that you could be killed at any given second."

The smile came back, but this one was more arrogant than friendly. "No, I said that _you _could be killed at any second, _I_ am a master at this."

I rolled my eyes and mumbled, "Cocky little shit, aren't you?"

"Comes with the territory," he said in a laughing tone.

"Mark," I asked hesitantly as he sobered up, "is it worth it?"

He cast his eyes downward but I didn't miss the sorrowfulness that had passed in them. "It's difficult," he started out, "to just end your life that you worked so hard to build. Those relationships that you depended on are gone, just like that. But, there is a sense of fulfillment that you gain with your experiences; it's not fame or recognition because no one will even know who you are, but it's just like you gain this sense of self. Have you ever just felt empty kid, like something was missing?"

I felt my heartbeat pick up as he spoke to me, his words hitting me hard. Had I ever felt empty? To an extreme which he could not even fathom.

"So," he concluded, "to answer your question, it's worth it to me, but I guess you'll just have to search within yourself to find if it'll be worth it to you."

With his somber expression Mark looked older than the twenty-five years that he told me he was. His wrinkled forehead and wise eyes told the tale of a boy forced into manhood before he was prepared. His off guard appearance gave me an insight to the person that he was without the humor and friendly smile.

I wondered if I went through with all of this if I would sit one day and train another. Secrets and deceptions racing through my mind, half wanting to tell my apprentice to go and lead a normal carefree young life, half screaming that it's the best thing that you'll ever do.

"How does it fulfill you?" I asked with apprehension.

Mark put his mask back on and offered me a smile; only I was able to see straight through it. "It's not something that I can really explain," he said, "it's just like knowing that you're out there doing something to help not just a few people, but the entire world…it's an inexplicable high, and when you have it, it makes all the sacrifices that you had to make seem microscopic." He paused for a moment as if realizing that he was being too deep, "it's better than sex," he offered to lighten the situation.

I gave him the customary laugh but couldn't stop my face from turning red. Mark gave me a perplexed look but said nothing about my deep blush; I hoped more than anything that he didn't conclude my secret, that I was a virgin. God, I was an almost eighteen-year-old virgin; how pathetic was I?

"So," I said, desperately wanting to change the subject, "how's the pay?"

"The pay's good," he said with a laugh, "I have no idea in hell where our funding comes from, but trust me, you pull off a mission and they hook you up. You should see my house, it was a gift after I did one mission, it's off the chain."

I nodded dumbly as if I knew precisely what 'off the chain' meant.

"Anyway," Mark said, "just go home and think about everything. Just because you all ready told Albus that you would do it doesn't mean that you can't back out. Consider all of your options and possible outcomes before you make any decisions."

I nodded again, but this time had a firm grasp on his meaning, "I will. Thanks for telling me all of this Mark."

"No problem kid," he said with a bright smile, "and just so you know, I think that you could be great at this; you just need to learn how to take a hit."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I toppled out of the fireplace at the Burrow and bit my lip back as hard as I could to keep myself from crying out at the pain of being thrown from the fire mixed with my sore body.

As I pulled together all of my willpower and forced myself to stand my eye caught hold of the mirror across the room and I realized very quickly that I looked completely pathetic. The entire right side of my face was now a lovely shade of black and blue and was currently swelling up like a muggle balloon. As for the rest of me, the mirror couldn't see that, but it could show me that my being hunched over to try and ease my pain did absolutely nothing for my posture.

I heard a loud gasp behind me and turned myself around in one quick motion before I could even think about the pain that it would cause. I clenched my teeth together tightly as I saw Hermione's horrified expression.

"Ron," she cried out, "what in the world happened to you?"

"I, uh, fell down…a flight of stairs." Lame, I know, but my brain was not exactly on a high functioning level at the time.

She quickly rushed over to me and carefully guided me to a nearby couch. "You fell down a flight of stairs?" She justifiably questioned.

I slowly nodded and realized how much of a klutz that statement sounded like…I should have told her that I got into a fight and she should really see the other guy. "Yeah," I confirmed somewhat uneasily, "those damn stairs at the ministry, slippery suckers they are."

"Ron that's horrible, you should really file a complaint. Why didn't you just take an elevator though?" 

I looked into her concerned and trusting eyes and felt a twinge of guilt run through me, I really hated lying to her. "I guess I just wasn't thinking, the stairs were closer so I just went down them."

Hermione shook her head and made a disapproving noise, "well really Ron, you should be more careful about these things." Her eyes traveled down my face and stopped when she saw a forming bruise that began at the end of my neck and went down past the collar of my shirt. Without thinking she began to pull at my shirt but still couldn't see the entirety of the bruising. With a gentle concern Hermione pulled my shirt overtop of my head and took out her wand to begin healing my injured chest.

After she completed that she moved upwards to heal my beaten face. When she finished she slowly pulled her wand away, "did you hurt anything else."

"I'm fine," I said in a deep voice. Her face and body were still extremely close to mine and she didn't seem to make any effort to move away. After a moment her brown eyes left mine and noticed my bare chest. A blush rose up on her cheeks as she handed me back my shirt, I took it from her absentmindedly but made no move to put it back on.

I raised my arm and stroked it across her red cheek, not thinking of anything other than how beautiful she looked when she so humbly blushed. "Hermione," I whispered, not entirely sure of what I wanted to happen. I bent down slowly as I was much taller than her, even while sitting down, and placed a tender kiss at the corner of her mouth.

I saw with pleasure that her eyes closed as she leaned in towards me, but knew that I must keep my emotions in check. So with a sigh and all the inner strength that I had I stood up and took a few steps away from my temptation. Her eyes opened with apprehension and I regretted the confused stare that she directed towards me.

"I think that I should go," I stated cowardly before bounding out of the room, cursing myself with each step. I wouldn't hurt her, I would not get involved with her, it would only get her killed. We were friends, and soon enough we wouldn't even be that. I was taking the job, and when I did it was very likely that I would never see her again. I would be perfectly fine on my own; I didn't need her or anyone else.

I only wished that it didn't kill me to keep lying to myself.

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A/N Ha, over two thousand words…for once a normal length chapter. Now that I'm more into the story the chapters should be getting progressively longer, so those of you, who have been suffering through the short chapters, just be patient. A little R/Hr action for you….I haven't decided if more will be on the way shortly or not. Be forewarned that if there is some in the near future it will be bittersweet. 

I will try to update as soon as I can! Drop a review and let me know what you think!

Thank you to:

****

HeatherWeasley-lover (I'm glad that you loved the last chapter, I hope that you felt the same about this one!), **Stompy-Sanjii **(Hmm, well now it would make for no surprises if I told you who says that quote in the summery. Lol, okay now I'm just being dumb, it is Hermione who says that…but I'm not telling you when she says it! Lol, pay no attention to me, I'm really hyper at the moment.), **Gen Eveningstar **(I'm glad that you're looking forward to the whole secret agent thing. The training should prove to be humorous for the next few chapters, lol, I have to get some humor in now because it's doubtful that any will be acceptable later.), **Talia Moon **(Yeah, he's going to lie to them all for a few more chapters and then he's going to…well I can't tell you, but just know that he won't have to lie to them anymore.), **RonandHerm4va **(Ha, I find that I enjoy placing in teaser hookups…I love feeling evil!! Okay, I'm way too hyper at the moment, too much sugar. As for the danger, well Ron should be getting a firm grasp on that very shortly.), **KeeperOfTheMoon **(Lol, I actually am not entirely sure about what is going to happen in this story but I solemnly swear that I will try my best to keep our certain someone around and alive till the end. But I make no promises on the other characters, lol.), **Hplova4eva **(Thanks for reviewing!), **Clairvoyance **(Lol, I did my best to make Dumbledore seem good, but I think that he wouldn't he isn't above making certain sacrifices for the better good or whatever. I'll try and make some explanations about his reasons soon. I can't tell you about Ron and his soul, because that would just give away a major part of the story, lol. As for Draco and Ginny, something is going to happen with that soon…I might do a one-shot side story.), **smol **(I'm glad that you are liking this story! I love R/Hr stories too and I'll try to update this as soon as I can!), **BabyJJ **(Well one of your questions was answered in this chapter, as for what Hermione was going to say…you'll just have to wait and see!), **Shakespeare's Muse **(I'm glad that you liked the last chapter and it's always nice to know that I'm not the only one who finds my jokes funny, lol. And wow, I feel special now for having my very own shortened title! Lol, now you need to make a long title so I can give you one!), **Agnl **(Hmm, well if Bob is giving you problems I have one suggestion for you…watch the movie Identity and tell Bob the same is going to happen to him if he doesn't leave you alone, lol.), **Funness **(I'm glad that you think my story rocks and thanks for not being all pushy about the updating thing, although I will try to update again soon.)


	10. Sink or Swim Day

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summery: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize, I don't own.

A/N Okay, this is where I apologize profusely for taking so long to update…just use your imaginations on my apology. I haven't even really been all that busy this week, I just normally update one story and then work on the other, and I lost motivation on my other story so this one had to unfortunately wait in the wings. But I'm back now and I have lost no motivation on this story, I'm actually kind of excited because the action is going to be starting up soon!

Chapter Ten

Sink or Swim Day

It is easier to say a statement than it is going through with it. Thus is the case with saying that you have no regard for someone and proving it by walking away. I was supposed to make my ultimate decision to be a spy by leaving behind all relations and friends and devoting my life to training…but I found that I couldn't.

I came to training each day but always returned to my home at night. Mark reminded me daily to just leave, get it over with quickly…like pulling off a band-aid.

But it wasn't a band-aid. It was my family, it was Harry, it was…Hermione. I sighed deeply and felt weighed down by my current disposition; things had been more than awkward between us. She seemed thoroughly embarrassed that I had turned away from her and I knew that there was no other choice.

I was supposed to be brave. Right now I just felt like a coward.

Once you taste the forbidden fruit it's just like, how do you go back? It was killing me, I knew that she wanted more than friendship, something that I had been subconsciously longing for since my fourth year, and I couldn't have it. Fate truly is bittersweet.

I was torturing myself with angst. It would have been best for me to just leave my family and her, but I found myself just wanting one more look at her so I wouldn't ever forget the way that her nose slanted just ever so slightly to the left, or how if you looked close enough she had a freckle in her eye that gave it the appearance of a twinkle, or-

"Kid you need to buck up and just do it."

Snapped out of my lovesick thoughts I glanced over at Mark with a guilty look on my face. It had been two weeks since I started training, and even the densest members of my household were beginning to get suspicious of my constant appearing bruises.

He eyed me with half amusement and half suspicion. "You're in love aren't you," he stated more than questioned.

"No!" I denied too quickly.

A thin smile stretched out across his lips, "I should have seen this sooner. Dump her kid, the quicker the better."

"Gee I see that you're a romantic," I commented dryly.

He shrugged slightly, "get what you want from her and get out."

I stared in disbelief as his words processed in my mind. Get what I wanted and get out? Was he suggesting that I sleep with Hermione and then leave a note on the bed stand afterwards? I could see it now:

__

Hermione,

_Your years of friendship have been great but all I really wanted was sex. Now that we have that out of the way I see no reason to keep this who 'trio' thing we have going on. Talk to you later…maybe._

__

Ron

Yeah, nothing said I love you like that.

I love you? Oh God, Mark was right; I did need to get out.

"Fine," I finally agreed with him, "give me one week and I swear that I will make a clean getaway from my old life."

"One week," he nodded, "but if you chicken out that's it Ron; no more extended time. Do it by next week or don't do it at all."

"I won't chicken out." And I wouldn't. Hermione was leaving for University in six days; I would simply leave discreetly while everyone was wrapped up in her departure. Perhaps it was a cowardly way to go, but it was the only way that seemed plausible to me.

"I didn't think that you would," he said with his usual smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I went home-I mean to the Burrow-that evening for once not limping with pain. I made sure that Mark assisted me with the proper healing charms as my frequent injuries were causing far too many questions.

As I came out of the fireplace I was surprised to see Hermione in a chair waiting on me. She hadn't exactly been seeking me out for the past few days.

"Ron we need to talk," were the first words out of her mouth, as she didn't even look at me.

I licked my suddenly dry lips and sat down beside of her wondering how in the hell I was going to explain what had happened between us the other day and why I bolted.

"I know Ron," she simply stated.

Well, I wasn't expecting her to say that. "You know _what _exactly Hermione?" I asked genuinely confused; she _knew _a lot of things, what did she want me to do, guess which particular one she was talking about at this moment?

Her expression stayed hard and accusing, "I know that you aren't working at the Ministry. You've never worked there Ron, you never even _had _an interview."

I felt myself go cold. If she knew that, then what else did she know? "What have you been doing Hermione," I asked in a harsher tone than intended, "sneaking around and spying on me?"

She choked back a sob and her unfeeling expression was torn to pieces. "I wanted to take you out to lunch as a congratulations on your new job but you weren't there Ron…you were never there."

Unaffected by her nearness to tears because of my anger and irritation at the situation I stayed deathly calm. "What do you want from me Hermione?"

"Where have you been," she whispered hoarsely, "what have you been doing that causes you to come home every night injured? Please Ron, just tell me."

Not able to think up an excuse or lie that would be satisfactory to her I merely stood and began to descend to the stairs. "You're a clever girl Hermione," I said with a careless shrug, "figure it out."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hadn't meant to be such a bastard towards her. I just didn't know what else to do. I wasn't prepared to answer questions about my new life; I had never expected any of them to be a part of it. It had just seemed…irrelevant.

Never give away anything. According to Mark, that was rule one. Well, technically rule two; rule one was don't get caught. But if you _do _get caught, don't give away anything. 

He would have actually been proud at how I handled the situation with Hermione. I had simply cut off my emotions like was expected of me. But I didn't feel proud, not in the least. I felt horrible, I had made her cry, I had caused her pain. She would be much better off without me around to constantly hurt her.

Decisively I grabbed my trunk and began to randomly toss in my belongings. It was best to leave now, before she really did figure everything out.

I felt my heartbeat pick up as realization dawned on me; I was really leaving everything behind. I was just going to start a completely new life; this wasn't just something that would happen sometime in the future, it was happening _now_. And that scared the shit out of me.

Fearful of being caught red-handed attempting to 'sneak out of the house' I hurried, not caring what I was taking and what I was leaving behind.

__

Leave everything Ron.

Mark's words rang through my head and I dropped the shirt that I had had in my hand as though it had suddenly burned me. I had nearly forgotten, I was just supposed to leave, I wasn't supposed to pack as though I was going on a trip or planned to even be gone at all. 

I threw everything back in my closet not worried about the mess it was making and put my trunk back. So now the only thing that there was left to do was leave. I looked at the door but found myself making no effort to move towards it.

With a sigh I took a step, one foot in front of the other I slowly gained on the distance between myself and the door. I eventually found my way out into the hallway and continued taking slow small steps; after all, leaving forever isn't something that one just rushes into…or out of…or whatever you would say in this particular situation.

But my feet, my mind, and my heart, seemed to all be quarrelling with each other as I ended up in front of Ginny's room where Hermione was staying. I took a deep breath and wondered what to do. I knew that Ginny wasn't in there, she snuck off every evening after dinner and didn't reappear until the early hours of the morning; or so Hermione had told me.

Finally I bravely turned the door handle and felt horrible as I saw Hermione sitting in a chair staring out the window with tears streaming down her face.

"Hermione?" I asked timidly

She lifted her head to look at me, "please don't tell me any more lies Ron."

I felt a wave of guilt rush over me; I couldn't believe that I had selfishly thought that my lies and actions would affect no one but myself. I had hurt her through it, and if anyone else found out, they would undoubtedly be pained as well.

"I won't lie to you Hermione," I promised, but knew that I probably wouldn't be saying much at all if I was limiting myself to the truth.

She got up from her seat and walked past me to shut the door, she revealed her wand and gently placed locking and silencing charms on the room. Wordlessly she lead me back to her cot where she had been sleeping for the summer and we both sat down in an uncomfortable silence.

I could see her inner battle through her troubled eyes before she finally took a deep reassuring breath. "Tell me that you aren't doing anything illegal or stupid," she requested irrationally.

"I'm not doing anything illegal or stupid," I mimicked truthfully. Well…it wasn't _completely _stupid anyway.

"That's all I need to know," she stated before closing the gap between us and initiating a tender kiss. Shocked for only a moment I returned the kiss apprehensively; this wasn't why I had come here, but an added bonus couldn't do anyone any harm.

Pushing all rational thought out of my mind I forcefully kissed her, unleashing all the passion that had been building in me for years. The pressure of my weight bearing down on her we both slid down onto the cot. I could feel her heartbeat racing and knew that mine was doing the same as we continued to kiss, our tongues and passions intertwined.

As Hermione pulled off my t-shirt I checked myself briefly; things were going too far. "Hermione," I whispered gruffly.

She placed an elegant finger over my lips before I could say anything else. "Don't think Ron," she commanded, "I just…I just want to be with you before I leave."

Taken aback by her bluntness I sat up, still shirtless.

"I can feel you leaving me Ron," she coaxed as she sat up as well.

"I'm not-" I was going to say that I wasn't going anywhere, but I had made a promise to her.

She didn't seem to even notice what had happened though. "Maybe not physically," she said, "but it's like each day you're less and less here _mentally_. I don't want to be intelligent or rational tonight Ron; I just want one moment of purely us. No regrets."

"No regrets," I repeated slowly. I turned my head back towards her and lowered her back down onto the bed, I loved her, I wouldn't regret this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up and gave a bittersweet smile as I held Hermione in my arms for the first and last time. For a moment though, I didn't think about leaving. I didn't think about our lack of a future together. I just envisioned us as a couple in love who had just awoken from a night of passion, content in each other's arms.

But the moment passed just as I knew our time together had. It was time for me to go, physically, mentally, and in all other forms. I couldn't put it off any longer. I couldn't keep lying to everyone who I cared about, I couldn't keep hurting them.

I slipped out of the warmth that Hermione and I had together and listened as she gave a small whimper in her sleep as I pulled away from her. I found my clothes and snuck out of the room and went down the stairs and outdoors into the dark.

I pulled out the portkey that Mark had given me for when I finally left.

__

Whenever you're ready to commit and leave it all behind kid.

With one final look towards the section of the house where I knew where Hermione resided I activated the portkey.

No regrets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N Told you that any R/Hr action would be bittersweet. Damn, you can practically _taste _the angst in that one…I'm going to go watch cartoons or something to lighten my mood, lol. Review please!!!!!

Thank you to:

****

Hplova4eva (Glad that you're still liking the story, thanks for reviewing!), **RonandHerm4eva **(Well, if you loved the R/Hr in the last chapter, then you should have really liked this chapter, lol. Hope that you are still enjoying the story, and sorry to have Ron in the habit of splitting every time that he and Hermione start to get anywhere, lol.), **Gen Eveningstar **(Thanks for saying that the R/Hr tension is well-written, it's much appreciated! Glad that you're liking the story!), **Kinky Kiwi **(Thanks for all the great compliments! I'm really glad to know that you are enjoying this story even though you don't normally read the pairing. And I love Ron too!), **Arynnl **(Thanks for reading and I hope that you got an opportunity to read the rest of it!), **Stompy-Sanjii **(Glad to know that you're enjoying the story and I'll be sure to check out your fic as soon as I have time. Lol, my free-time seems to be lost to work, homework, and school lately. But I'll find time sometime!), **Me **(Lol, I made my decision…I think. I'm an idiot, just slap me or something. But they were briefly together, and now, you know, not so much. But they will get back together eventually!), **HeatherWeasley-Lover **(Glad that you're liking it, hope that you continue to do so!), **Andieemail **(Lol, it may take a really long time to get there but we should get a happy ending. I enjoy bittersweet irony things though…gives you something to think about and want to slap the characters over, lol.), **Orange banana **(Lol, you can stop dancing around nervously now, the next chapter has been uploaded. Hermione is still fine…for now. *cackles evilly* Don't worry, she should be all right.), **Angl **(Let me know when you've forced Bob to watch Identity, I think that we could form some excellent torture plans from it, lol. And I love your idea of an imaginary dog to chase an invisible person…kudos on beating the conventional insane system, lol.), **Trempush **(Lol, the plot is going to get a hell of a lot thicker really soon.), **Shakespeare's Muse **(You'll have to e-mail me your script when you're done with it, it sounds interesting! I do hope that you finish Things Change soon, you can't keep putting me in suspense like this! Lol, if you were screaming at Ron and Hermione last chapter you probably had some illegal weapons out this chapter. Glad that you like Ron's training guy, you'll be seeing more of him!)


	11. Gathering Up the Pieces

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summery: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize, I don't own.

A/N Hmm, I suppose that I should be hanging my head in shame as it has taken me a good while to update this. Oh well, I'll hang my head later when I have time. I felt like the last chapter kind of a beginning to a new chapter in Ron's life so to signify that the chapter titles are taking on a new theme. I'm sure that you noticed how each chapter, one through ten had the word "day" in it, which had an underlying purpose as Ron took his life one day at a time…and now I'm getting too far into meanings that people don't care about, so I'll just get to the point…every ten chapters the chapter titles will change as well as the theme of the story. So there's a little insight into the story for you.

Also, I posted a story called Mend My Shattered Soul. If you read that then this chapter should definitely click for you. But it's not essential or anything. Just if you are going to read it, I would read it before this chapter.

Chapter Eleven

Gathering Up the Pieces

I sat glaring at my coffee in deep thought. Though, perhaps it is unjustified to label my thoughts as deep, as my most serious one was that I don't really like coffee. I would prefer tea.

It had been a week since I used the portkey. It had taken me to a house that was empty of any occupants. Since that time it had only contained one; myself. There was plenty of food and supplies here, just no people. I assumed that Mark wanted me here for some reason or another, so here I stayed, wallowing in pity.

I was beginning to wish that Mark would just come collect me, I was turning pathetic. All I did was sit, listening to the echoes of my past wondering if anyone even noticed that I was gone. I certainly hoped that they had noticed by now, it would just be sad if they hadn't.

With a sigh I leaned my heavy head against my hand and zoned out for a few minutes; wanting for once to feel as though I wasn't trapped in my own mind. However, my moment of inner peace ended abruptly as I heard a loud rapping at the window.

I lazily turned my head over and saw an owl awaiting entrance. I walked over to the window, let the owl in, and was surprised as it allowed me to take the letter but then quickly flew off, leaving no time for a reply.

With a suspicious glance at the letter, I opened it and saw only the words:

Open the front door!

The first thing that popped into my mind was Mark, so with a shrug I went over to the front door of the house and pulled it open. To my expectancy Mark was standing on the other side with a somewhat smug look on his face.

"Just what I thought," he said decisively, "you're still too trusting. Why would you just go open the door because a note told you too?"

I flashed him an arrogant smile in return, "because I knew that it was you. Anyone ever tell you that you that chicken scratch that you have the nerve to call English looks like shit?"

He waved a dismissive hand and entered the house, "writing is easily imitated, don't put faith in it."

I rolled my eyes and shut the door. "So why have you left me here to fend for myself for the past week?"

Mark strolled into the kitchen and helped himself to some food that I had left lying out. "I figured that you could use some adjustment time. Now that you've had that, time to work kid."

With an irritated sigh I meet his gaze, "more training?"

"I suppose you could see it that way. I have an assignment for you."

"An assignment," I said, unable to keep the surprise out of my voice, "all ready?"

He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out if this frightened me or not. "That's how we do things. Jump in Ron, don't bullshit around the shallow end of the pool."

I nodded, slightly in shock. I hadn't expected any sort of assignment for at least a few months. Mark constantly corrected me on things, why would he think that I was ready for anything on my own?

He pulled a folder out of his robes, opened it and threw a large picture down on the table. "This is your target," he gestured at the picture of an attractive girl around that appeared to be in her mid to late twenties. "She's in with Voldemort, one of the few females allowed in his inner circle. Do whatever you have to do to get close with her, she has vital information. Get that information from her by any means necessary. Got it?"

"Any means necessary," I repeated slowly, "what do you want me to do, kill her or seduce her?" I had said it in an incredulous tone, but Mark obviously regarded it as a serious one.

"Whatever you have to do kid."

I nodded and looked down at the picture of someone that I was about to become very close to. It was eerie to look at a photo-and a muggle photo at that-of a stranger whom you knew that you could possibly kill.

I had never killed anyone. I wasn't even sure if I could.

But I wasn't about to tell Mark that. "I understand. Where can I find her?"

"She goes to a club/bar every Thursday night called 'The Magic Stick' you can find her there." I nodded, thinking that it was slightly strange that this seemingly wholesome looking girl would go to The Magic Stick, it wasn't exactly known for it's family style entertainment.

Mark sat down the rest of the folder, "here's everything you need for briefing, I'll be back on Saturday to see how you faired. Later kid, and good luck." With that Mark pulled out his wand and disappeared leaving me to mull over my first assignment.

I picked up the picture again and stared at the girl that was smiling back at me. She had long blond hair and a striking set of blue eyes, she looked more like a teacher than a death eater…which is probably why you-know-who uses her, she looks innocent.

With a final glance at her I sat the photo down and picked up the folder as I took a seat. The contents were two sheets of paper containing all the information that whoever gathered the information had on her.

Her name was Melissa Thompson and she was twenty-three years old. Feeling strange I closed the folder again. Now I knew her name. I wished that I hadn't looked, names were too personal, she couldn't be a person to me, she could only be a source of information. Don't get involved.

I closed my eyes and tried to rid myself of images of her playing with her children. Chances were that she didn't have any, but she was a woman and she had a nurturing look about her…what if she _was_ a mother and I killed her? I would be responsible for children losing their mother.

My heart rate picked up as guilt for something that I hadn't even done swept over me. Knowing that I had to put it out of my mind and calm down I dragged myself to my bedroom and decided to go to sleep.

Dreams of a small child crying out for Melissa crowded my sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday came and I spent the daylight hours of it waiting with anxiety in the living room of the house, watching the clock.

No one went to The Magic Stick before nightfall, that was just commonsense. So I waited for the time that was passing both too slowly and too quickly. Finally, the sun began to descend and I knew that it was time for me to make my move. Now or never.

With shaking hands I grabbed the portkey that had been in the folder and closed my eyes tightly as it transported me to an alleyway near the infamous club. Trying desperately to get my breathing under control I made my way to the front of the club and stood in the line that was beginning to form outside.

I waited in line hoping that I looked cool and aloof, not the out of placeness that I felt. My eyes darted around towards the other occupants of the line, she wasn't here. Perhaps she was all ready inside?

Finally I found myself in front of the bouncer feeling rather foolish and more awkward than I have ever felt before. Only alcoholics and perverts come to bars alone, I knew that's what he must be thinking.

"How old are you kid?" He said suspiciously.

I immediately became defensive, "eighteen, how old are you?" Smooth Ron, be sarcastic to the extremely large and muscular bouncer, and why don't you lie on top of that? Well, it wasn't technically a lie; I was eighteen…in a few months. But he didn't need to know that.

His eyes narrowed, "don't lie to me, it insults my intelligence."

Well, what do you know, a bouncer who wasn't a meaty moron. Figures that it would happen to me. "Sorry," I mumbled, "I just…had a rough day." Again, not technically a lie, I had had a rough day.

"Girl problems," he asked with something that sounded suspiciously like sympathy.

"More than you know."

"You know, drinking isn't going to solve anything." Great, I was receiving a heartfelt lecture from a bouncer. Why must these things always happen to me? "But," he continued in his strange father-like manner, "I can relate." With that he let me in.

I flashed him a surprised, but grateful look and quickly entered the club before he changed his mind. I cursed Mark as I walked through the crowd of people, he knew that I wasn't old enough, and didn't even _look _old enough to be in one of these places.

The loud music annoyed me as I took a seat at the bar, I never had been one for 'club' music, all it was to me was a deafening thumping that you couldn't even make any words or sense out of. These thoughts, I had learned after one club experience about a year ago, apparently made me a loser. Well, so be it then.

"You look about as depressed as I feel," snapped me out my thoughts on the reasons why they should turn down the music.

I turned my head in the direction of the voice and to my utter shock saw Melissa Thompson staring back at me with an amused look on her face. "Yeah," I said trying to sound casual, "nice of you to observe it."

She smiled prettily, "just thought you would like to know."

I licked my dry lips and felt my mind go blank conservation wise. "So," I said lamely, "what do you think about the music?"

Her nose crinkled up in distaste, "personally, I hate it. I remember when this place used to be a bar, an actual bar, and the only music they had was a muggle jukebox. A few years ago they decided to 'keep up with the times' and change it into a club…probably before your time though."

I hated it that just because I was young, everyone assumed that I was like five. I simply nodded and tried to suppress my irritation at her presumption that I was a child. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"Whiskey."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N Well, if you read the companion story you should have some idea on how this is going to go…if not, then you'll just have to wait and see! I know that a lot of you were probably expecting Ron to be really depressed, but it's been a week, and he doesn't seem like the type to me to be like suicidal. I don't know, I just was going for repressive denial or something like that, so hopefully it's making sense! Please review!!!!!

Oh, and as for naming the club "The Magic Stick"….what can I say, I couldn't resist!

Thanks to:

****

Stompy-Sanjii (One of the bad parts of first person point-of-view, we won't know if Hermione is pregnant or not until Ron knows…so I guess you'll just have to wait, lol. Sorry to make him split right after, but had to be done.), **Talia Moon **(Glad that you're liking the story! Sorry about the slow update, I'll try to update faster next chapter!), **Kinky Kiwi** (Lol, of course he didn't bother to find out where the portkey went to…typical male. Sorry that he was a jerk last chapter, hopefully he'll be making up for it in the future.), **Gen Eveningstar **(Glad to know that you thought Ron was cool last chapter, hope that he keeps it up! Sorry about the slow update!), **F75 **(I'm glad that you are liking the story so far, hope that you continue to do so!), **RonandHerm4eva **(Aw don't cry, lol, I'm sure that they'll get together and be happy…eventually. Glad that you're loving the story and I hope that we are online at the same time sometime soon, I haven't talked to you in a while!), **Orli-enthusiast **(I'm so happy that you are liking this story so much! I loved reading your review, it made me feel really good! And, I know, poor Hermione…but things should get better for her by the end of the story *wink wink*), **KeeperOfTheMoon **(Glad that you're still liking it, and I read one of your notes on your stories and I just wanted to tell you to not feel pressured to finish all your stories. Believe me, I know how daunting it can be to have four or five stories going on at once and you just want to scream.), **Hplova4eva **(Lol, love your little math equation in you review, and as always, great to hear from you!), **Arynnl **(Lol, glad that you liked the last chapter and thanks so much for your review! I'll try to update sooner next time!), **Trempush **(Haha, good thing that you love thickness because lord knows that this story is going to be full of it! Thanks for reviewing!), **Me **(Here's your update, hope that it didn't occupy your mind too much as it took a while to get here. Glad to know that you're liking the story and I'll try to update soon!), **gpotter **(Well, I can't tell you if she's going to get pregnant or not…but I can tell you that I don't like for people to be able to guess my plot lines and several people have guessed that one so you can probably cross it out. Feel better for Hermione now? Lol, thanks for reviewing!), **FantasyAngel-Writer **(Don't worry about not reviewing because you were busy, I completely understand. Also, I'm really happy that you picked up on that "no regrets" was the last line of the tenth chapter, I meant for that to sound, you know, closing or whatever.), **Silent Bob 546 **(I'm so excited that you think the story is dark and cool! That's what I was going for, but I figured that people would describe as weird and gay, lol. Hope that you continue to enjoy it!), **Shakespeare's Muse **(Thanks so much for saying that you thought the sex scene was tactful and well done, I really appreciate it as I actually put a lot of thought into that. I didn't want it to be smutty sounding, but then I didn't want it to be corny, so it means a lot to me. Glad that you're enjoying the story!), **Angl **(As always, I took a large amount of amusement out of your ongoing fight with Bob. Lol, seriously it cracks me up, especially with the imaginary dog added in. Also for your 'scheme' to get out of chores, I've been there too!)


	12. Pieces of My Past

Shadows

  
Rating: PG-13

Summary: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize, I don't own

A/N God it's been like two weeks since I have even worked on this story. I'm sorry about being relatively slow when it comes to updates but I just haven't had time to do anything besides school lately. Here's the next chapter though. 

Oh and in like ten days I'm going on vacation for seven days (thank God!) so I'll be on a cruise deck getting a tan and no where near a computer. I'll try to update again before I leave but if not, then you'll know why.

Chapter Twelve

Pieces of My Past

__

The cruelest lies are often told in silence.   
~Robert Louis Stevenson

My head hurt. Good lord, the words "throbbing pain" just took on a whole new meaning for me…

I bravely squinted one eye open, why was there so much light? Come to think of it, was there so much bloody pink? My eye shut once more of it's own violation as I attempted to put the pieces of yesterday together while dealing with the continuous thumping that was residing in my unsuspecting head.

"Morning!" A cheerful voice broke my spilt concentration.

Though my eyelid was content just where it was, shut, it opened anyway to see who was so damn cheerful at…one in the afternoon. The cheerful someone was a someone with blond hair and blue eyes. Melissa. Shit.

"Uh, hey."

She laughed in an uncharacteristic-like way for her, "don't worry I didn't rob you of your virginity or anything, you are still just as innocent as you were twenty-four hours ago."

"Unfortunately for you someone has already had the pleasure of 'robbing me' of my virginity." My comeback quickly one came to hurt me. Hermione. I wondered what she was doing now…probably reading.

She smiled again before shoving a mug in front of my face. "Here, drink this, but don't ask what's in it. It'll make your hangover go away, and judging by how hot you look right now, I'd say that you could use it."

I gave a half-hearted glare before suspiciously sniffing the contents in the glass, it smelled absolutely awful. I looked back towards Melissa and she gave me a friendly shrug before pointing at the mug as a silent way of telling me to drink it. I decided that it wasn't poison, if someone wanted to kill you, they wouldn't very well give you something that smelled like death and expect you to drink it without question. 

I swished around the drink for a few seconds before sighing and knowing that it was going to taste beyond horrible. As my mother always used to say, if it looks like a fish, smells like a fish, then chances are it's a-yep, I decided after I had downed the liquid, it was most definitely the worst thing that I had ever had in my mouth, Pansy Parkinson included. Err, as for that story, let's just say I was drunk and it was very dark…did I mention that I was drunk? 

__

Anyway, the drink may have been the equivalent of a vomit flavored every flavor bean, but it did the trick and Melissa's merry voice was much more welcomed just as that pounding noise coming from the ceiling…what a minute, I thought as my head tilted skywards, what _was_ that?

I instinctively grabbed my wand and got up from my place on the couch. "Stay here," I warned Melissa, "you have an intruder upstairs."

She looked at me in pure confusion for a minute before her eyes widened in comprehension and she swatted my wand away, "you will _not _curse who is upstairs unless your intention is to be brutally slaughtered by me."  
  
"Who's up there then?"

"No one, I'm sure, of importance to you." Her vague half-answer intrigued me; this was the kind of information that I was supposed to be retrieving on this mission and now was as good a time of any to start and finish this assignment.

"If you don't tell me," I said in what I hoped to be a persuasive sounding tone, "then I'm just going to have to take my wand and curses with me to find out."

"Unless you're in the habit of throwing curses at an innocent five-year-old," she spat viciously at my threat, "then I would stay down here and leave it alone."

"A five-year-old?!" I couldn't keep my outburst or genuine surprise to myself, "what, are you baby-sitting or something?"

Melissa raised an amused eyebrow at me, but said nothing. I heard the sound of feet connecting with the stairs and momentarily after a small boy appeared with a solemn grown-up expression on his features.

"Melissa," he said in an amusing condescending manner, "my blue robe has been wrinkled, I am in dire need of a new one."

I stifled a laugh at his uncanny resemblance to Percy and turned to Melissa, "how old did you say he was?"

"Five going on fifty," she returned while giving the boy an openly affectionate look. "Perseus, I would like you to meet a friend of mine, Ron W-"

"Ron," I interrupted, "just call me Ron."

Melissa gave me a strange look but continued anyway, "Ron, I would like to introduce you to Perseus…my son."

__

My son. The words echoed through my mind and I suddenly wanted to heave. She had a bloody child and there was a chance that I would have to kill her. Well place your nominations for humanitarian of the year right now folks, I think I have this award in the bag if I leave this poor child motherless.

"Perseus," I said, forcing myself to regain the art of conversation, "that's an interesting name."

"It means hero," Melissa explained, "like the Greek mythology and constellation." Her hand reached down as she playfully ruffled Perseus's hair, "I always knew my baby would be star."

He recoiled from her attempted act of disheveling his appearances. "Honestly mother," he said with a sigh, "you know perfectly well that 'Perseus' is made up of a large number of stars so if you wanted to call me a star you should have picked just one. Besides, I hardly see where you saw it fit to name me after the bastard child of a Greek god."

She attempted to look angry, but failed. "Do watch your mouth Perse, cursing only makes you sound of a low intelligence."

  
"I wasn't cursing," he contradicted, "bastard means an illegitimate child which is exactly what he was."

Melissa smiled widely at me while dropping the 'argument' with her son, "I must have done something very wrong in a previous life to get stuck with this thing as my child," she said in a clearly evident joking tone.

Perseus gazed intently at his mother for a moment before moving his hard look towards me, as if contemplating something between us. His eyes darted between us for a little while before he shrugged and walked calmly into the kitchen, on the way announcing, "I'm going to fix myself breakfast."

Melissa smiled at the general area where her son was before turning to me, "he's really one in a million," she explained. "Literally I always say after that. He's extremely independent…but I suppose he gets that from his fa-"

Her sentence ended abruptly as she began to say the word father. My ears immediately perked up; just who was Perseus's father? I felt slightly daft for not thinking of that before catching her slip. "You were saying," I pressed gently.

She shook her head for a moment, "never mind. So Ron," she said changing the subject with attempted ease, "are you aware that people believe you to be either captured or already dead? And here I found you 'clubbing' of all things."

I turned a sharp look towards Melissa, just what did she know? "Captured or dead," I questioned carefully, "who told you a thing like that?"

"Oh it's all over the papers, 'Best friend to the boy-who-lived missing: Reward offered by Harry Potter for any information.' For all the money Potter's putting up for you, I could be a very rich woman if I turned you in right now."

"You wouldn't do that," I said with more conviction than I felt.

"And how would you know that?"

I smiled but chose to say nothing, best to keep that whole 'air of mystery' between us in my opinion. However, her words had indeed struck me more than I was letting her know. I had figured that everyone knew that I was gone, but this information suggested that they believed something horrible to have happened to me. It was just like Harry to be the first to offer to put up his own money for a reward. I felt myself growing desolate and put a halt to my thoughts, I would have to worry about this sometime when I wasn't alone with the woman whom I was supposed to be gathering intel from.

But, it was too late for that, as she had caught my slip just as quickly as I had caught hers. "Miss them, huh? Why did you leave if it wasn't against your will, you seemed to have that whole one big happy family vibe going on, decide your life was too perfect?"

"You know nothing about my life," I said harshly, "so just leave it alone."

"Fine," she said airily while tossing a hand through the empty space that surrounded us, "just so long as you remember that when you come sniffing around for information on my life." I looked at her, wondering just what she was up to and what she all ready knew. "By the way," she continued, "tell Mark that I said 'hello' the next time that you see him…which should be soon, am I correct?"

I stumbled off the couch, not knowing what to do. "I, uh, I have to go." With that I made my most clumsy, uncool, not spy-like exit ever.

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I opened the door to my temporary home slowly with the weight of my failure pressing down at an unbearable rate. She had known, so therefore I must have screwed up somewhere. She had known about…Mark?

Well, that didn't make any sense. I stood at the doorway between the front porch and the house for a moment, I _knew _that I had never mentioned anything about Mark, the only way she would know about him would be-

I finally looked into the house and saw the man in question sitting with calm and ease in an overstuffed chair facing the door, and consequently, facing me. "

"You son of a bitch," I spat with a newfound surge of anger, "you set me up!"

"'Set up' is such an unpleasant way to phrase things Ron," he replied with the amiability of someone who knew that there was no way I could kick his ass, no matter how much I wanted to. "I prefer to say that I kept control of the situation. Besides, don't get too upset, I knew that she would spot you and not harm you, but rest assured I have not seen Melissa in a great deal of time and she had no clue that you were coming."

"Why do you know her in the first place? She's a death eater, and you're what, friends with her?!"

"It's complicated. Never mind that, the point is that you're in with her so now we may proceed with the mission."

The look I directed towards him could only be interrupted as dumbfounded amazement and incredulity. "What is _wrong_ with you? She knows exactly who I am, who you are, and probably knows exactly what we do! What good would it do to try and get anything out of her?"

Mark made a gesture for me to sit down, which I blatantly ignored. "Melissa is a clever girl, I knew that she would figure you out quick enough. That however, only supports the plans that I have for you Ron. What you don't know is that Melissa is one of the most independent people ever placed on this earth, she would never be happy nor content serving anybody. There lies our way in. No matter what her own views on the war at hand, she hates being a minion for the dark, she'll help you get in, just to spite them."

"She has a child," I said somewhat desperately, this was supposed to be an easy intelligence mission, not become a spy on the dark side!

"Yes, I'm aware of that," Mark said somewhat darkly, "the child has nothing to do with you nor this war though, so leave him out of it. Take today off Ron, you had a hard night, tomorrow though I want you to floo Melissa, set up a date and get back in."

"So," I said with evident confusion, "do you want me to go with her to a death eater gathering or something? I don't understand what you want me to do here."

"Exactly Ron," he said, clearly pleased, "get her to take you with her as a prospective member. Look around very closely while you are there, then come back and tell me what you see. It's as simple as that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have another meeting I need to get to." He rose but stopped for a minute before pulling a newspaper out of his robe and tossing it onto the table, "here," he said, "I thought that this might be of interest to you."

I waited until he had left before cautiously walking over and picking the paper up. To my own expectation and dismay I saw myself looking back at me from the front page.

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A/N So it begins. Lol, I'm weird today, just ignore me. Yeah, so now you know a little more about the characters that are going to be setting up for the major plot and I was mapping out this story in my mind a few days ago and I figured out that it won't be too long until Hermione makes an entrance back into the story! So if you're waiting for that, just be patient. Leave a review please!!!

Thanks to:

****

Megz2 (Glad that you're liking the story and I agree with you about there not being enough Ron goes to the dark stories…though while writing this I'm beginning to understand why as it's taking forever to get him over there, lol.), **RonandHerm4eva **(Haha, the 'nice' ones are always the most evil. Ahem, well perhaps not, I just really felt like saying that after reading that you said Melissa was nice. Anyway, Hermione should be making her appearance soon and I'll finally get to use that blasted line that's in my summary, lol.), **Hplova4eva **(Glad that you're still liking it!), **tiffiany-45 **(Hmm, yeah I see what you're saying about Ron replaying his night with Hermione over and over in his head. _But_, just remember this, just because I don't include it in the chapters it doesn't mean that he's not thinking about her. And, lol, that made no sense. I don't like to be really obvious about plot things so I'm trying to do the whole subconscious suppression type thing when it comes to his thinking about Hermione, like how he'll mention her at inopportune times…does that make any sense? Probably not, lol), **Shakespeare's Muse **(All right, I know that I can trust you to tell me the truth as I have a question regarding the story. Does Mark seem manipulating at all? Lol, just answer that honestly and I'll be happy. Loved the end to Things Change btw, even though I all ready told you that.), **marzoog **(Thank you so much for your compliments on the story! I appreciate your saying that Ron is in character because that's important to me to make it seem believable as he turns 'dark.' Hope that you continue to enjoy it!), **Enchanted Spirit **(*Applauds* Woohoo, you caught on to Melissa!!! You're guess about why she was in the bar with Mark is right on the money and it made me so happy to know that someone got where I was going with that!), **LissaGranger**( Thanks for taking the time to tell me that you think the story is good, it's much appreciated! And also thanks for your compliment on the line in the summary, lol, that actually came to me before I even thought about the plot of the story.), **Gen Eveningstar **(Oh goodie, you made an accurate guess on Melissa! Lol, I get way too excited when people follow the story and plot lines the way that I want them too…anyway, yes she was a 'training' mission of sort, but you probably all ready knew that after reading this chapter, lol.), **cosmoz**( Sorry I kind of left you hanging last chapter, I didn't do it intentionally! This was a bit of a cliffhanger I suppose, but you can probably guess why he's in the newspaper. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon!), **orli-enthusist **(Lol, glad to ease your mind about Hermione, though when she does make her next appearance it will be kind of angst-ridden. Also, thanks so much for telling me that you enjoy the notes at the end of the chapter! I really appreciate that because I've had some people in the past actually stop reading my stories saying "it's good but I got sick of you taking up all that room at the bottom with notes to reviewers when you could have written more of the story." So it's nice to know that some people like them!), **Arynnl **(Lol, you want to see Ron in a earring, leather pants, and spiked hair huh? Well that would be some disguise…I'll see what I can do for you next chapter about your clothing requests.), **swim fan **(Thanks for reviewing and hope that you're a fan of evil Ron. Lol, I know I am!), **Penny Wishes **(Thanks so much for all your wonderful comments! And it's also nice to know that you haven't forgotten about Ginny and Draco, since you did remember and asked I'll tell you this, there is a lot more that is going to be there and there's more to the relationship than you think. Glad that you're enjoying the story!), **Trempush **(Lol, I wanted to have him try to seduce her in this chapter so much but I couldn't for future plot reasons. But I left out most of their club scene for a reason…Ron will remember it later and then you'll get your humor in his attempted seduction.), **blue hoax **(I'm glad that you love the plot concept as well as the story. And it's strange that you told me to eat cheese as I am actually eating some right now. Lol, Colby Jack rocks!), **Stompy-Sanjii **(I'm glad that you enjoyed Mark's story and I actually meant to add another chapter to it but life kind of got in the way…And you're right, the only thing that sucks about first person pov is that I can't get back to Hermione till Ron sees her again.), **Me **(Mend My Shattered Soul didn't exactly have a lot to do with last chapter actually, but it did have something to do with this one and a lot to do with the future. I really just wanted people to see that Melissa and Mark have a past together. So as long as you know that, then you're fine with understanding the plot.)


	13. Setting Up the Pieces

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summary: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize, I don't own

A/N Sorry about the long updating time, I meant to update before I left but ended up not having time. Lol, if it makes it any better I had a wonderful vacation and wrote most of this during it.

Chapter Thirteen

Setting Up the Pieces

I read the paper in a surreal state. I couldn't figure out who I hated more as I tore through the article, Mark for giving it to me in the first place, or myself.

They had no clue where I was. Mark was supposed to have made up something…anything. Instead he hadn't done a thing, not one.

Damn him anyway. On second thought, damn myself…if such a thing is possible.

Harry had put up a substantial amount of money for anyone who had any information regarding my whereabouts. He had actually been quoted in the article saying, "Something happened to Ron, he's one of the best people that I know…he wouldn't run away from anything." Shows what he knows.

Typical Harry, loyal and trusting to a fault. I had been a coward to leave them in shambles like that. But that wasn't even the worst part of the article. Oh no, it got so much worser than that…and I am aware that worser is not technically a word.

Hermione didn't go to school. Instead she stayed behind to head up my search party with Harry. There was a picture of her on the front page. She looked so terribly sad and it was all my fault.

I wished so much that I could find a way to comfort her. I wished that I didn't feel so justifiably guilty and self-loathing whenever I even thought of her. I wished a lot of things, but most of all I wished that she would find me. Save me from the hell that I was walking into with my eyes wide open.

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When I was little I remember that above all else I longed to be rich. I never understood why my family was so desperately poor, why everything that I owned was embarrassingly used to the point of falling apart.

My first robes had been Bill's, and then Charlie's, then Percy's, then Fred's, and finally tossed after I outgrew them. How I used to hate Malfoy and those like him with such a raw passion; why should they be wealthy and have an unlimited supply of nice _new_ things?

I had associated money with happiness. Slightly disillusioned concept, I know. Bitter was my disappointment when I discovered no sense of satisfaction or joy when I found that Mark had opened an account at Gringott's for me with a very healthy amount inside of it.

Money didn't bring happiness, love did…Hermione did. And for a brief insightful moment I understood Malfoy's character a bit. With nothing but gold keeping you company proved to be a lonely existence indeed. But like I said, it was a brief moment, didn't make up for the fact that he was still a complete bastard.

Thoughts of Malfoy quickly led to thoughts of Ginny. Something was off with that relationship, and this wasn't just because of my biased view of it. I knew my sister…or at least I used to.

She hated the Malfoy's with the same passion that every Weasley preceding her had. She had _never_ liked him in the slightest. This one hundred eighty degree mental turnaround was completely out of her character.

I'm not a complete insensitive prick, if I thought that she truly loved him, and he her, then I would have eventually found some sort of terms to come to with the situation. I could have made some sort of peace…

When Ginny was little she used to be the biggest little drama queen within a three thousand mile radius. She used to put on these huge tear-jerking performances whenever she was asked to something that she didn't want to do, like wash a single dish. She was good too, very believable to all whom watched with the exception of me who knew her best.

I had also spent most of the summer with Ginny following the "incident" in her first year of school. She would cry on my shoulder for hours. If you asked something of her she would comply without protest and perform the task at hand in a lifeless sort of manner. Her eyes in the few weeks following the end of the school term haunt me still. Her usual animated and vivacious deep brown eyes took on this amount of hurt and sadness that was so far beyond her years…

When we had our confrontation about Malfoy I had thought of both of these above-mentioned incidents; and she held an uncanny resemblance to the temper-tantrum throwing child that was merely putting on a show.

I didn't have time to further my thoughts on it though as Mark literally popped in. I was greeted with an overly friendly, "hey kid!"

I mustered up my best glare and not for the first time wished that I was able to best Mark in a duel. As I could not, I settled for glaring…ha ha, let him take _that_!

He gave me a strange sideways glance; I suppose my glare wasn't as menacing as I had hoped for. "Anyway," he began after my glare had ceased, "I just wanted to let you know that the next meeting for the dark will take place in two nights time. I expect you to be there and to report back within twenty-four hours of that meeting with any information that you find."

"Two days?!" I repeated incredulously. "I have to find how to get in to a bloody gathering of You-Know-Who's minions in just two days? Like that will just be simple."

"You already have your in," his tone raised to a sterner level, "make contact with her and tag along to the meeting. Honestly Ron, if you think this is some high level of difficulty I'm not sure what I'm going to do with you." Mark gave me a hard reprimanding gaze that made me uncomfortable as if I was a child being chastised; "if you can't do it, tell me now."

"I can do it," I replied automatically with as much conviction as I could rally…I still had my pride after all.

He smiled slowly, "good."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. What the hell was I supposed to say to Melissa to get and invitation to her death eater meeting? Yeah, there's a conversation that I could really see happening, "hey Melissa, would it be to much trouble for us to just hang out today…and if you have some sort of evil gathering to go to, well, I wouldn't mind coming with you." Uh-huh, this had disaster written all over it.

I heard the clock to my left chime seven times. The meeting was at nine, she would leave by eight, and I was still here, pacing at a rapid pace. With a defeated sigh I took a fistful of floo powder and threw it into the fireplace, shouting the name of Melissa's residence clearly. Disaster or not I figured that I had no logical choice other than to give it my best shot.

I stumbled out of Melissa's fireplace while coughing up ashes…really not the best way to travel. I looked up and to my surprise saw Melissa sitting calmly on her sofa facing me with a mischievous expression.

"Uh, hey there," I greeted lamely.

She nodded in response. Not really sure what to do in a situation such as this I made my way toward her and began to sit in the vacant chair next to her when she raised a hand in protest, "you are _not _sitting on my nice clean chair covered in soot."

I smiled sheepishly and pulled out my wand, muttering a cleaning spell for myself as I thought of how much Melissa strangely reminded me of my mother with her almost shrill voice of protest.

"Now then," she started up, "took you long enough to get here. We leave in forty-five minutes, would you like something to eat first?"

"Leave," I echoed, "where?"

She cast me a strange look not unlike the one that I had been given by Mark a few days earlier. "To the meeting of course. That is why you are here is it not?"

"The-but-how?" I stuttered out in an incoherent string of random words. How did she know that was what I wanted? And furthermore, why was she giving it to me? Why would a death eater escort a strongly suspected spy straight into a secret meeting?

"I have my ways," she answered with a sweet smile. "You do want to go don't you?" I nodded as my voice had yet to return. "Well," she continued, "then like I said, we leave in forty-five minutes."

"Why?" I finally managed to croak out.

"Because being early is a sign of punctuality of course." I almost smiled as she expertly avoided my question.

"So," I searched for a subject change to let her off the hook, "did you mention something about food?"

She smiled and walked into the kitchen, "I fixed some grilled chicken for Perseus earlier unaware that he woke up this morning and decided to become a vegetarian." 

A laugh escaped me at hearing the words, "where is Perseus anyway?"

Melissa bit her lip down in contemplation before busying herself with preparing the chicken for me. "So how much chicken do you want?"

I eyed her in suspicion but decided to let it go for the time being, it probably wasn't my place anyhow. As she put the grilled chicken onto a plate I took in a deep breath and had a sudden longing for my mother. There is no food like homemade food after all.

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A/N…should I end the chapter here? Eh, I made everyone wait long enough I'll go on. And yes, this note is pointless.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exactly forty-five minutes later I walked willingly into the gates of hell…a metaphorical hell of course.

I looked around the site with a great deal of interest; we were the first ones there so nothing seemed frightening in the least. It wasn't at all what I expected. Granted, it was a graveyard but it was a nice graveyard. There were a lot of pretty flowers.

I exhaled a deep breath and felt a bit sorry for the death eaters. Melissa had given me a standard black robe to wear, with my hood _up_ of course, and these things are bloody heavy! Not to mention unbelievably hot when mixed with the already warm weather that was still lingering from summer.

I turned to Melissa, feeling the need for some conversation, "so," I began, "this is how you all do your meetings huh? I always thought that you were called by your, uh, you know-"

"Pleasant little snake and skull marking," she finished for me. "Death eater myth," she said while shaking her head, "he used to do it that way but decided that he liked it better when we were all waiting on him, rather than the other way around." She appeared thoughtful for a moment, "we have a call list you know."

A call list? Well, there's something you just don't normally associate with evil. A moment later a few more of Melissa's colleagues joined us. I nosily peered at them, trying to see who it was. No such luck though, they all had their hoods up.

A few more moments went past, a few more death eaters showed up, and so on, and so on until nine o'clock came and everyone froze, holding their breath for the intended moment. Anticipation built through the air until a loud pop signified the dreaded moment. Well, dreaded for me at least.

I found that You-Know-Who is not unlike those muggle train wrecks that Hermione told me about…you want to look away, but yet you find you cannot. He was hideous and every bit as snakelike as I recalled him to be. But I had never seen him up close before this moment. I averted myself from having to look into those horrid red eyes of his, which was just more than I could handle at the moment.

He took a few minutes to ramble on about his own greatness and everyone bowed. Of course I had to bow also, but not without giving him the finger from underneath my robe while doing it. I really hope those red eyes don't give him x-ray vision…

After everyone had proclaimed their love to him he ordered everyone to lower their hoods. I looked around in panic as all hoods went down. What was I supposed to do? My hands began to shake as they refused to lower my hood, I couldn't be seen at a death eater meeting! What if it got back to my family, to Hermione?

Somehow my eyes lifted up to where You-Know-Who stood and to my shock and dismay he was staring directly at me, almost through me.

"Well now," he hissed, "this is interesting. I see that someone has brought me a new recruit."

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A/N Okay that's the end of the chapter for real. Lol, I had to end it on somewhat of a cliffhanger, I haven't done one of those in a while…I was beginning to have withdrawal! Sorry again about the delay, I would swear not to do it again but I have finals next week so it's doubtful I'll get another chapter out until the week after…we'll see though. Reviews could motivate me to skip studying and write though *cough* hint *cough*

Million thanks to:

God, for always being a constant figure in my life. My parents for their support and guidance. My friends, my-

Oops, wrong thank you list…my bad

****

Hplova4eva (*blushes* Now now, if you keep giving me compliments I might…love you! Lol, I'm a little hyper at the moment, you'll have to excuse me.), **swim fan **(Ron is going to like Melissa, but not in a romantic way. They are platonic friends, so have no fear for Hermione.), **Hurdlingbaybee06 **(Aw, I always love it when people who are not fans of particular genres or characters like my story despite it. Makes me feel all warm inside, lol. Hope that you continue to enjoy it!), **Arynnl **(Lol, I'm working on a way to get the clothes into the story…it's harder than it seems, lol. Perhaps it can be his initiation to be a death eater to wear leather and spiked hair?), **RonandHerm4eva **(Glad that you like Melissa and nice to have another fan of Greek mythology! I was going to make the child a girl and name her Medusa but I felt that might have been a touch on the cruel side, lol.), **Penny Wishes **(Thanks so much for your review! It meant a lot to me when you said that you found it so interesting that you thought of it long after you read the latest chapter, that is so awesome! I hope that you continue to love it!), **Gen Eveningstar **(I'm so glad that you like Melissa! I always love it when people like my original characters, so I'll send you some brownies or something!), **Stompy-Sanji **(Thank you so much for all of your wonderful compliments! It means so much to me that you think that I am a great writer, and I'm so glad that you are excited about this story. I'll try to update again soon!), **Shakespeare's Muse **(Yes! Someone guessed correctly on who Perseus's father is, so glad to know that one didn't go over everyone's head. Good job on figuring that out and I'm so glad that you are enjoying the story! So you don't trust Mark huh? We'll see how that works out…), **Trempush **(Lol, I'll try to get your attempted seduction scene in sometime soon and glad that you are enjoying the story!), **Angl **(Lol, I wish that I could see you chasing Bob around with a pitchfork…now is this a real pitchfork or an imaginary one? Does it really matter?), **Enchanted Spirit **(Glad that you like Melissa and I'm so happy that you are liking the story!), **marzoog **(Perseus is actually a name from Greek Mythology…nothing to do with Percy Weasley, lol. So I hope that clears some things up for you.), **Perfect Something **(I'm so glad that you are enjoying the story, I hope that you continue to do so!)


	14. Pieces From an Empty Bottle

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summary: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize, I don't own

A/N Merry Christmas all! Even though it's not Christmas anymore….but I didn't get a chance to wish you all a Merry Christmas before, so I'm doing it now! And yes, I am a strange and sad individual. Sorry about the long update, I kind of went on a reading rampage for some reason. I read twelve books in the past week. So you know, that takes away from writing time. I am also aware that is of little interest to no one besides myself so I'll just shut up now

Chapter Fourteen

Pieces From an Empty Bottle

My hands shook and my heart raced. He had singled me out and now he was walking towards me. I kept my eyes focused on the ground and hoped that as long as I couldn't see him, he couldn't see me.

Turned out to be no such luck as I felt an ice-cold hand brush my forehead as he pushed my protection away from my head. I forced myself to look up at him; I would not be a coward. He looked at me with something that can only be described as evil glee.

"What have we here," he said with a growing amount of interest. "The missing link in the Weasley chain I do believe."

Don't tremble. Whatever you do, I told myself, don't show him your fear. He knew who I was…I felt beads of sweat gathering at my forehead, where had all my bravery gone?

His eyes bore into me as if he could see straight through me. I'm pretty sure that he could. I wasn't Harry, I wasn't the one who was his match, I was just Ron and that was all I wanted to be. I was just trying to make it through life, trying to figure out who I was…I didn't want to die.

"Melissa," he beckoned. 

She complied immediately; stepping forward and bowing her head in a graceful manner, "yes my Lord?"

"Are you responsible for bringing him to me?"

"Yes my Lord."

He smiled. The action still unnerved me. "I will see to it that you are rewarded."

Rewarded? Why the hell would she be rewarded for bringing a spy into a death eater meeting? And a Weasley spy at that.

"Take him to the mansion."

Before I could even begin to comprehend his command I felt myself being dragged by two men who obviously outweighed me by a good amount. My body itched to retaliate, to fight, but my mind wouldn't let it. Play along, stay alive, and be smart.

After away from the meeting area we transported by portkey to the undisclosed location of the dark headquarters. An area that no member of the light was ever supposed to see. Or at least, see and live to tell about.

They were leading me to my death, I just knew it. Wherever we were going it wasn't good. Some jail cellar no doubt, dirty and cramped and not to mention unclean. Then they would most likely stick me with some cannibal cellmate who would wait for just the right moment when I was asleep and my defense were down to use the metal end of their bedpost to-

Except it wasn't a jail cell. It wasn't a prison in the least; in fact it was very…nice. Posh one might even say. That is strange. What kind of war tactic is that? Keep the prisoners in super nice rooms, what are they using the kill em' with kindness approach?

They left me in the room in the midst of my utter confusion. I was torn between being pissed at Melissa, fearing for my life, and hitting the mini bar that I spotted with the corner of my eye.

After weighing the choices heavily in my mind I chose the last one. Alcohol, the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems. 

Not even bothering to care about what I was drinking I absentmindedly opened a bottle and began to down in quickly. The harsh antidote numbing my pain. Within a few minutes I looked down in surprise to find my new friend was empty. Pity.

I grabbed another bottle. It appeared to be the same brand as the first, I didn't really care though. About halfway through that bottle I thought it odd that I didn't feel drunk in the slightest, I mean both the bottles were fairly large and I am kind of a lightweight. But if you were ungodly tall and skinny you would be a lightweight drinker too.

I found a couch and took my drink with me. After sitting down for about five minutes I got up and promptly fell. So perhaps I was a little bit drunk after all. Splendid, if they were going to kill me I might as well be having a good time during it.

After my second bottle was nearly gone there was a knock at the door. Not trusting myself to make it there safely and back I simply called out "enter." I figured there was really no use in hiding or anything like that, it was their home turf, what the hell kind of chance did I stand sober, let alone pissed?

Melissa came in looking almost ashamed of herself. Well good, she should feel bad for tricking me into coming to a seemingly innocent death eater gathering-so perhaps I was slightly daft for going in the first place but still…she should feel guilty, I didn't do anything to her. Besides use her that is.

"Ron," she said in a softer tone than I was accustomed to hearing from her, "do you know why you're here?"

"I dunno," I said slurred as if we were playing a game, "because I'm so good looking?"

She gave me a hard look before grabbing the empty bottle out of my hand and smelling my breath. "You're drunk aren't you? Well that's just perfect, this could be one of the hardest days of your life and you go off and get drunk."

Sobering up a little I glared back, "they're going to bloody kill me anyway so what does it matter if I'm drunk or not?"

"They aren't going to kill you," she retorted, "you're too important to them."

"What? Important how?"

"Ron," she started again in the same soft tone that she had began with, "there are some things about yourself that you aren't even aware of…he's been searching for you for quite some time now, he just didn't know it was you he was looking for."

"Melissa," I said bluntly, "you are going to have to spell this out a little bit because I am not in my right state of mind enough to be reading between your lines."

"Have you ever heard of a true seer?"

And there it was. I didn't even need someone to perform the sobriety spell for me, that did the trick pretty damn well. True seer, of course I had heard of the term, it had caused me plenty of worry already, I had just pushed it out of my mind.

Taking my silence as ignorance she continued, "a true seer is the most powerful version of the seer because-"

"I know what it is," I interrupted in a lifeless voice. "Are you trying to tell me that I am one?"

"I'm not _trying _to tell you anything, I am telling you. Face facts Ron, it'll keep you alive."

I looked up at her, searching for a bit of compassion, I found none. For all that she appeared to be on the surface Melissa was a cold-hearted bitch underneath if there ever was one. Don't be mistaken about her; she'll kick you right in the balls if she feels the need for you to open your eyes about a matter.

"Ron, when he saw you tonight his eyes light up like a Christmas tree. You are his key to winning this war and he will do anything to get you over on this side."

"And what about you," I accused, "convenient isn't it that you just happened to be there to help me out. I heard him you know, you're reaping benefits from this!"

"I do what I have to," Melissa said in an even voice, "I owe you nothing Ron. If for me and my child to survive I had to get you to him a few weeks earlier than he would have gotten to you then so be it. I am not the bad guy here Ron, I will not feel guilty over this."

My eyes met hers and I have never felt so alone as I did in that moment. And I realized that I wanted to be alone, I needed myself to figure this out, not her deluding herself out of guilt. "Leave," I commanded, "just go."

Melissa looked as though she wanted to say something but ultimately decided against it. She complied with my wishes and I was left alone on the couch with nothing but my own emptiness and alcohol to fill me.

So I did the only thing that I could do, I began to laugh. I laughed until my sides ached from the action; the whole situation was just so funny I found that I could barely stand it. To fulfill myself and get myself to forget about the whole lack of a soul thing I had gotten a job, a job that's main purpose was to bring down the dark. And here's the punch line of life's twisted joke, I was the key for the dark achieving victory.

"Something funny about this situation Weasley?"

I jerked my head up to tell the intruder to go to hell when I saw just who the intruder was. A blonde rat. Malfoy…my sister's Malfoy that she was with because he had changed so drastically.

"Well I'll be damned, if it isn't Draco Malfoy the reformed son of a death eater. Some things never change do they?"

He smirked at me, "you're here as Voldemort's guest of honor, so I suppose some things do change after all, Weasley."

I attempted to stand from my position on the couch, but failed horribly. "If I could manage to walk straight I'd beat the shit out of you."

He didn't seem frightened by my threat…pity. "Don't try to threaten your guard."  
  
"_You're_ my guard? I might as well off myself now."

He shrugged, "wouldn't bother me any. Want me to get you a knife?"

I scowled and stumbled forward; I was not in the mood for him. "What do you want Malfoy?"

"I just wanted to see it for myself, a Weasley turned dark. Funny, I always thought it would little Virginia that would make that move."

I saw red. With the only thought running through my mind being die you evil ferret die I allowed myself to lose restraint. Half glaring and half squinting I lounged towards Malfoy and threw a heavy punch…which unfortunately missed completely and simply sailed through the air backed by Malfoy's laughter.

"That was a truly pathetic example of defending your sister's honor," he prodded through laughs. He shook his head at me, as if reprimanding a child and promptly left the room.

"Yeah you better run," I mumbled after he was long gone. Not the most intelligent or witty line, but at least I had the last word. Take that you damn ferret.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AN I swear I really meant to make the chapter longer than that. But that just seemed like a good ending place to me. Besides work I have nothing to do this coming week so I am going to make an effort to update. An actual effort by the way, not just saying I'm going to try to please readers.

Oh and the whole "alcohol, the cause of, and solution to all of life's problems" belongs to The Simpsons. The greatest television show ever created, and yes, I have seen way too many episodes of it. Anyone one else as obsessed as me that they can name the show that line came from? 

And "die you evil ferret die" was the brainchild of RonandHerm4eva after downing some cold medicine. Her insanity astounds even me at times…

Thanks to:

****

Orli-enthusiast (Lol, you're forgiven for missing one chapter. I suppose I can overlook it. Glad that you enjoyed the past two chapters, and things didn't go too badly for Ron in this chapter…well maybe they did. His luck should change around sometime soon though.), **Hplova4eva **(Sorry about the cliffhanger last chapter, I just couldn't resist! But no cliff in this chapter and I swear that I will make a conscious effort to get the next chapter out by sometime this week.), **cosmoz **(Lol, don't be going all "valley girl" on me with like ten oh my gods in a row. Sorry to keep you in suspense, but Ron made it through another chapter in relatively one piece and I'll try to update soon!), **Hurdlingbaybe06 **(I agree, poor ickle Ronnikins. I do so love to torture him…Glad that you're enjoying the story and thanks for reviewing!), **RonandHerm4eva **(Lol, you're right Melissa is too nice to be a death eater. Hmm, wonder how long she'll stay alive…of course in my stories you know that no one has that great of a chance for staying alive until the end of the story. And I love you for the whole "die ferret die" thing, I was seriously cracking up.), **Trempush **(Feel free to think through the keyboard all you want, I have the basic guidelines set up for this story but I still have a lot to fill in and am always open to suggestions. And there will without a doubt be an angst-filled scene between Ron and Hermione full of awkwardy goodness!), **themadscriptor **(I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story and thank you so much for saying that the plot is not a cliché. I strive on originality and I was afraid that the basic Ron being evil thing would be seen as somewhat of a "it's been done" type thing.), **Penny Wishes **(Lol, I may leave updates hanging around for a while, but I won't abandon this story. Glad you're enjoying the story and hopefully there will be another update soon!), **Me **(No worries about missing a chapter. Sorry about the cliffhanger last chapter, I would promise not to leave another one but I know that will be a promise I break so I just won't bother, lol.), **Enchanted Spirit **(You know what, I never really thought about Voldemort being able to read people's minds…Hmm, I kind of forgot about that. But Ron and Voldemort will meet next chapter so I think that I'll incorporate that in. Thanks so much for reminding me of it!!!! And Melissa is God, she is all seeing and all knowing. Just kidding, I'm a really big geek.), **Funness **(Aw, you think my story is cool? Sweetness, now I feel like _I'm _cool. Lol, just ignore me, I'm in a really weird mood. Glad that you're enjoying the story, I'll try to update soon!), **Shakespeare's Muse **(*screams* are you seriously a Chili Peppers fan? I am like on of their biggest fans, you do not know how much I love them! Ever since I heard Give It Away Now when I was little I have loved all of their songs!!!! So you like stories that are filled with angst and grief? Gee, I never would have gathered that from your writing, lol.), **Murmelikunkku** (*hangs head in shame* I'm sorry about the long updating…I've kind of had like 85% of this chapter written for a couple of weeks now, I just never got around to finishing it. But if it makes up for it at all it was your review that got me to finish the chapter. Glad you're liking the story and I will try to update again later this week!), **bluehoax **(Lol, sorry that my causing you to twitch. If it makes you feel better I'll let you know this, Ron is going to be on the dark side, but not necessarily evil. I hope that makes sense, because now that I think about it, it really doesn't…at least not to me, but then again I haven't slept in a while.)


	15. Pieces of Sobriety and Imagination

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summary: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize, I don't own

A/N Oh my God, I updated in a little over a week…stunning. I just got accepted into the college that I've wanted to go to since the age of like six so I am in a really good mood right now. Go Bucks! And if you couldn't tell from that, the school is OSU, and I send out apologies to any Kansas State fans. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, well watch ESPN once and a while, lol.

Also, I cannot thank RonandHerm4eva enough for her help with this chapter. I got stressed and stuck with the last portion of it and she completely got me through it, with her wonderful idea and helpful advice.

And to make this Author's Note even longer, shout out to HurdlingBaybee06 who successfully named that episode of the Simpsons quote last chapter. It is so nice to know I'm not the only one obsessed with that series!

Chapter Fifteen

Pieces of Sobriety and Imagination

__

Everybody lies about practically everything…When you meet someone for the first time you aren't meeting them, you're meeting their representative. -Chris Rock

I sat slouched next to my now empty mini bar. Someone had stolen all of my alcohol. I had a strong suspicion it was Melissa. Being sober was boring and reality was less than stellar. I briefly wondered if this line of thinking made me an alcoholic. I pondered this for a moment before deciding that I really didn't care, I might as well add alcoholic to ever-growing list of not so redeeming qualities.

Suddenly feeling very depressed I allowed myself to simply slide the rest of the distance to the cold floor. I stared at the ceiling in a dreamlike peaceful state. I noticed a black spot on the ceiling and found it to be somewhat humorous. You would think that they would have enough money to fix the ceiling. My humor turned into wonder though as I watched the black spot grow larger…now just how was that possible? Then it came down towards me until the darkness overtook me, leaving me in a cold place filled with nothing but empty space.

I sat up immediately and childishly pulled my knees to my chest as if this would protect me. I was in the darkness for only a moment before I saw a bright light shining a few feet from me, I got up and hesitantly walked towards it. The closer I got the more I had to shield my eyes to attain the ability to see anything other than it's brilliance.

I stood in front of the illumination and stopped my efforts of protecting my eyes. It didn't register to me that my eyes and the area the surrounded them were burning. All that mattered was the fact that I could _hear_ something. Voices. And they were coming towards me.

Interest and curiosity overtook practicality and common sense as I shoved a sacrificial arm into the ball of light. I waited for it to burn, catch fire, fall off, or something. But nothing happened. It felt damp, but nothing else, no horrible repercussions. So I stuck in the other arm, and then a foot, followed by a leg, until the light had absorbed me. 

Once inside of the light I gasped. I was somewhere outside of my own body, because I could see myself. This was bloody amazing, I was standing in front of myself and-

Then it hit me, this was another sodding 'vision.' Well _now_ it was just annoying, not cool or amazing in the least. Damn light factor made me think it was something good.

I sighed in impatience and tapped my foot. "Well," I demanded to Vision Ron, "get on with it then." And so he did. He led me to a set of massive doors which he threw open with ease, made me kind of proud in a way, I was obviously muscular.

He walked outside, still oblivious to my presence, and shook his head in a sort of disbelief. I followed his gaze and felt my eyes go wide with shock, it was absolutely horrible. The entire scene in front of me was…surreal and from a nightmare. People were everywhere, and they were all dead.

Finding it hard to catch my breath I took notice that he was continuing with his walk, I followed obediently. He kicked aside the bodies that were in his way without thought or remorse. I felt ill.

Suddenly he came to an abrupt stop and a harsh glare came across his -my- features. I looked down and saw…Harry. He was dead.

My hand unconsciously found it's way to my mouth as my body retaliated and the foul taste of vomit filled my mouth. I bent over and heaved, not being able to hold it back. Harry was dead.

I turned to myself, to see how I was taking it. To my surprise and disgust Vision Ron smiled creepily and spit on Harry's dead body. God, I was going to be sick again. Before I had a chance to further in my vomiting escapades I was yanked back and felt myself being thrown from the light.

Sitting once more on the floor I began to cough harshly, attempting not to become psychically ill again. Once in control of my own bodily functions I crawled over against a wall and felt unmanly tears dampen my eyes. Out of habit I wiped them away, but found I didn't really care about the "sissy" aspect of crying.

That was the future.

The future was Harry dead and me spitting on his dead body.

It wasn't even plausible in my mind. I would never feel that way about Harry dying. I would never be happy about it, even if I hated him at the time.

My hands felt clammy and all the blood had rushed away from my face. The door was thrown open loudly and a hooded figure entered. I felt cold.

He withdrew his hood to reveal, well himself obviously, but himself was you-know-who. Wonderful.

"Ronald," he greeted, his snakelike mouth twisting upwards. He slithered towards me and my heartbeat picked up more. "It worked," he said softly.

I swallowed, feeling a sense of dread. I didn't want to talk to him, I was in no mood to hear about the great things I could achieve and receive if I sided with him. "What worked," I choked out in a moment of surprising bravery.

"You had a vision," he stated simply.

Now just how did he know that? Unless…the whole process leading up to the vision had been strange and different…"You forced me to have a vision, didn't you?"

He looked delighted, "I merely brought out what was already there."

"Well," I said anger causing me to be bold, "that makes it better then, now doesn't it?"

With a flick of his long bony hand he conjured a chair for him to sit on. "I could give you anything that you have ever dreamed of Ronald. Riches beyond imagination, power beyond conceivability, women beyond any man's lust."

There were a few things wrong with that statement that he made to me. Firstly, and most importantly, no one wants to hear the dark lord discuss women and lust. That is just adding insult to injury. Secondly, did I actually appear to be that shallow? As if power, riches, and women could lure me to do his bidding. I would like to give myself a tad bit more credit than that.

"As…appealing as all that sounds," my bravery gave way here as my voice cracked, "I'll have to pass."

My body stiffened, waiting for whatever repercussions came when one turned down you-know-who. 

He stood, and walked over to my now empty bar. "Are you quite sure about that? It's a shame really, how you're so much more dedicated to your 'friends' than they are to you."

I licked my lips. "What are you talking about?"

He pulled out a newspaper that I slowly peered at. It was pictures of a funeral…my funeral. I stared at in shock, he took his opening.

"You see Ronald, they have forgotten you, buried you even, when you are quite obviously still alive. Their search party only lasted a few weeks before they gave up and declared you dead without a shed of evidence to prove it."

I looked up at him, slightly shocked at how much more ugly he was at close range. I opened my mouth to defend them, but no words came out. The only thing that I could think of was that if it had been Harry or Hermione, or any one of my family members, I would have never stopped looking, stopped hoping. In the picture Harry had his arm around Hermione as she was crying in his shoulder. A surge of jealously and anger shot through me, they looked too comfortable together. Nice to know that my supposed death could bring my best friend and the woman I loved together.

"They don't care," he continued tonelessly, "why should you continue this fight for them? You are dead, you have no responsibilities and no loyalties."

I slammed my fist down on the counter and clenched my jaw. "I would like to be alone now."

"Of course," he said generously, but not before giving his wand a flick. A drink appeared that was a deep magenta color. "Something to calm your nerves a bit." He quickly disappeared from the room and I was left alone with my confusion.

I sat on the floor, as the couch seemed too far away, and read the article. Nothing in it made me feel any better. There were sappy quotes from various fools that I was barely acquaintances with, and news that Harry Potter had found comfort over his loss in the form of Hermione Granger. I glared at the moving picture, he was holding her hand now, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

I tore the paper in two, but that wasn't good enough, so I tore the pieces of the newspaper until all that was left were bits of confetti. I had to get to her. I had to let her know that I was alive before she turned all her sorrow into love for Harry. She wouldn't be doing this to me if she knew I were alive…I just knew it.

I stood with new purpose and strolled over to the door. I went to throw it open to discover that it was locked. This would have made me angry, except I really should have expected that. I mean, what kind of captive is allowed to just walk out the front door.

Deciding to think like a spy I circled the room, searching for options and ideas. No windows, and no apparent secret doors. I even walked around tapping on every stone in that room, hoping that one would lead to a secret passageway or something cool like that. Nothing though, just bruises on my hands from pounding too hard.

Feeling not very spy like I went to the couch and flopped down. This was pathetic. There had to be some way out of here. You would think that they would just let me out, I was of no use to them. I would not help the dark. Perhaps if I promised not to help the light they would let me go? Didn't seem likely.

Scenarios ran through my mind, when they got to the point of my asking help from Malfoy I got up and walked to the bar. I stared suspiciously at the drink on the counter that he had left for me.

It smelled like alcohol, it looked like alcohol. Of course, it was a very girlish drink as it was magenta, but liquor nonetheless. Weighing the options in my mind I decided that if you-know-who wanted to kill me, he wouldn't do it by poison. If it happened to not be alcohol, well they wanted me to help them right? So it wouldn't be anything too bad…

Deciding that I really just wanted to be drunk, I downed the glass. A few seconds passed and I was still alive, always a good sign.

Suddenly I began to feel very woozy. This was strange, it wasn't like being smashed it was…different. Not an entirely unpleasant different though. A wave of dizziness overcame me and I grabbed onto the counter to steady myself. This worked really fast.

The dizziness got worse though, and it wasn't so pleasant anymore. Feeling tired and seeing black, I did the only thing I could do, I collapsed.

*~*~*~

It seemed like an eternity later when I awoke, still on the floor. I felt like hell and my arm was throbbing.

I took shallow breaths and wondered briefly what in the name of everything holy was in that drink. My arm felt like it was on fire though. I must have hit it when I fell.

Deciding to check out the damage I pulled my sleeve up on the injured arm. Only there wasn't a bruise there, there was an ugly skull tattoo thing. Recognition overcame me as I stared down at my arm in complete and utter horror, it was the Dark Mark. 

Oh dear Lord.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N Haha, that turned out pretty interesting actually. Sorry for the cliffhanger of sorts, couldn't help myself. I'll try to update quickly again, and I would just like to say that I am pathetically proud of myself for updating in relative quickness. That is sad, I'm aware. Review review review!!!

Thanks to:

****

RonandHerm4eva (Hey, thanks again for talking me through the last section of the chapter. Lol, it probably would have stayed in my recycle bin otherwise.), **tiffiany-45 **(Aw, your review gave me to biggest ego boost, lol. Thanks for letting me know how much you like the story and my resolution for the New Year was to start updating quicker on this so that it can finish sometime before the next millennium, lol.), **teehee **(I have to say that I love your screen name. My friends and I are always say "teehee" and it annoys practically everyone. So kudos fellow teehee amigo. Glad you're enjoying the story!), **Hurdlingbaybe06 **(We are kindred spirits here, because you are a fellow Simpsons freak. And I know what you mean by living by that quote, gets me through the day sometimes, lol. Did you see that episode that was on a few weeks ago when the Simpsons went to England? They met J.K. Rowling, it was awesome!), **Lymaris **(I'm so glad that you like how Ron is in this story. I seriously hope that he starts getting a bigger role in the books, well he already has a big role, but more important would be nice. He always comes off as the sidekick in the books. Hope you continue loving the story!), **Stompy-Sanji **(You know, you were the only person to comment on Draco. Lol, I think everyone else forgot that he was with Ginny and not evil. But I can't tell you if he's reformed or not, you'll just have to wait and see, lol. Happy New Year to you too!), **swimfan **(Well it appears that he's going to be a death eater now, lol, but not by choice. Dark Mark rape and all that. He is going to be 'evil' though until later.), **PyroAndrea **(That is not morbid of you at all to love angst, because I am obsessed with it! If I read too much fluff, it literally makes me sick. And if it morbid, well then we can be morbid together…we should start a club, lol, I'm a huge nerd, just ignore me. Glad you're liking the story!), **Shakespeare's Muse **(*screams right back* I got the new Chili Peppers CD a few days ago, and I have been listening to it nonstop. Under the Bridge is my favorite song of all time. Lol, I'm going to stop talking about it now or else I'll end up singing it. I love your new story and I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter!), **Funness **(I'm glad that you liked the last chapter, and wonderful to know it made you laugh. Makes me feel like my sense of humor isn't limited to myself, lol. The Simpsons does rock, and I'm sorry that you haven't watched it in forever…you're going to have to fix that, lol.), **loudnproud223 **(I'm pretty sure I sent you an e-mail…but I don't really remember. Lol, thanks again for your awesome review and I'm so glad that you are enjoying the story. Hope that you continue to do so!), **Trempush **(Lol, I always enjoy Drunk Ron myself, he would be so much fun at parties. Glad to know that you think the true seer thing fits in nicely, I was worried that it seemed odd.), **weasly13 **(Ron is my favorite character too, and thanks for letting me know that you are enjoying the story! It's always good for my ego to hear that, lol.)


	16. Piecing Together the Confusion

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summary: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize, I don't own.

A/N Sort of a long update…I've taken longer though. I've had a very strange couple of weeks, chocked full of bad news and problems. I'm starting to feel normal again though, finally got some inspiration for this chapter. This chapter is probably not what you expected, because it's not at all what I expected. I don't know, I just woke up at like four in the morning and starting writing, this came out.

Also, while I am in agreement and understand the uneasiness (some were disgusted) about the mention of Harry/Hermione, do not fret. If you know and love Ron you know that he sometimes is prone to jump to conclusions. There will be no H/Hr in this story, because, quite frankly, that plot is a little too clichéd for my tastes.

Chapter Sixteen

Piecing Together the Confusion

I woke without any recollection that I had fallen asleep. I was in an unfamiliar bed which I knew at once was not my bed at You-Know-Who's lair. It was white, pink, and it had…flowers? 

This was not an evil lair. Evil hideouts do not have bloody flowers. In a moment of false hope I lifted up the sleeve of my shirt. The dark mark was still there. Still mocking me in all its hideous glory. A panic washed over me, I would go to Azkaban! I knew how the death eater trials went, dark mark equals automatic pass to prison. Do not pass Go; do not collect two hundred dollars.

Then in my ever-present insanity I began to laugh. I could remember Hermione ranting about how utterly dull most wizarding games were, she insisted that we play a muggle game. Monopoly was introduced and became strangely addictive…I think it has something to do with most people's subconscious desire for world domination. Case in point, that feeling you get when you own Park Place and Boardwalk with hotels on each and someone lands on Boardwalk. Practically an indescribable sense of bliss. Or perhaps that's just me…

While contemplating the genius of the Monopoly game something crept into the room, escaping my attention. However, it did not escape my attention for long as it immediately came over to my area and kicked me roughly in the shin.

As the sharp pain eased in my leg I looked down to see Perseus. This was of course unexpected, but so many things shocked me as of late that even my shock had become greatly subdued. 

"Hello?" I said incredulously.

"Why in the _world_," he began clearly irritated, "are you in my mother's room? This is highly unorthodox, not to mention improper."

I narrowed my eyes and concentrated very hard on the fact that I would not let him know that I was not entirely sure what unorthodox meant. "As I was not aware that this is your mother's room, you can't be mad at me."

He regarded me with great suspicion before ultimately accepting the information that I had given him. "Why are you here?"

"I was really hoping you could tell me that. Is your mother here?" He nodded and led me out of the pink and white room. With a call down the stairs we were met by Melissa at the bottom of them.

"Ron," she breathed. "You're awake!"

This was beginning to weird me out. "Funny thing about falling asleep, you almost always wake up at some point." Sarcasm is always an easy resort…and that resort is usually pretty pleasant to stay at, the equivalent of sunny beaches and all that. "However, one usually wakes in the spot where they fell asleep, and at some point will recall having fallen asleep in the first place. Neither of these things were blessed enough to happen to me."

She nodded solemnly, "we need to talk." She motioned for me to follow her into the kitchen, "if you would excuse us Perseus."

Once we were alone with the kitchen door safely shut behind us I turned towards Melissa in confused anger. "Can you please explain to me just what the hell is going on?"

"I felt bad," she snapped irritably. "I felt like a bloody kidnapper because you had no idea what you were getting yourself into to."

"I have the dark mark!"

She looked down at the floor, "I know. I'm sorry."  
  
"You're sorry," I repeated sarcastically. "Well that just makes it alright then, now doesn't it?"

Gaining back her usual bite and courage she glared up at me. "I didn't think that he would force it on you, I never dreamed that he would do this. But since he has then it's up to me to protect you."

"I don't need your protection," I snapped. "Just leave me alone. You got me out, which I'm sure was difficult for you, so thanks. But I'm capable of making it on my own, and I'm leaving now. Do not attempt to contact me again."

"Ron," she sighed in an exasperated tone. "You don't understand anything that's going on around you. Perception, unfortunately, is not one of your strong points. You are trusting people that you should not trust-"

"Like you?" I cut off.

"Fine," she said defeated. "If you want to leave, go. I'm not going to stop you, just let me give you a word of advice, don't put too much faith in Mark. He isn't a good person for you to be trusting your life to."

Having nothing left to say to her I turned my back and walked out of the kitchen and rapidly towards the front door.

"And Ron," she called to me, "find Dumbledore."

I hesitated briefly before continuing out the door. I didn't care what she had to say or what "advice" she had to offer. I had the dark mark and I put the blame mostly on her doorstep. She sacrificed me to him, I didn't want her apologies and pity now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn't want to find Mark. He didn't give a damn if I lived or died. He was his job, nothing more. Which wasn't such a horrible thing, but it didn't evoke a lot of trust in me for him.

So I would not go back to Melissa's, I couldn't go to Mark…I was homeless. How wonderful. The thought of the Burrow came to mind, but I knew that was an impossibility. I was one of _them _now; I didn't belong at the Burrow. I was tainted.

Dumbledore. Perhaps that would be a good idea…

Except, I really had no desire to go to Dumbledore. I hadn't spoken to him since I agreed to play the role of the spy and I wasn't sure if I really wanted to. He and Mark both could just forget about me helping them anymore. I was hardly as ignorant as they thought, they surly must have known about the true seer factor. Or, at the very least, suspected of it. They used me as their bait and expected me to simply comply when I found out.

I had nowhere to go and Melissa lived in the damn country. And I _still _didn't know how to apparate. With a long string of curses under my breath I turned my heel and walked back to Melissa's house.

After a moment to gather courage and humility I knocked on the door loudly. It opened to reveal a surprisingly cheerless Melissa…with tears in her eyes, of all things.

"Um, Melissa," I began, thoroughly embarrassed now. "I need to use your fire."

She glared through her tears before permitting me entrance. "By all means."

I stopped in front of the fireplace before taking another look at her. She looked pathetic, which is one word I never thought I would use to describe Melissa. Her small body looked frail and her eyes were glistening with fresh tears. I felt horrible, which made me feel even worse because I didn't want to feel bad for her.

A sigh escaped me; if I didn't do something to ease her pain I would likely feel like shit for the next week. "I'm sorry," I mumbled. "It wasn't _completely _your fault that I ended up in this situation. I went to that meeting of my own free will, therefore it is mostly my own fault. Though you could have warned me about You-Know-Who replacing Harry with me in his obsession area."

She gave that choked laugh that comes out while crying. "I am sorry Ron. You don't deserve to be anyone's pawn."

I nodded and grabbed a fistful of powder. But not before turning to her one more time. "Melissa, what did you mean when you warned me off of Mark?"

She sighed and gestured for us to sit down, this would obviously take a while. I shook the floo powder back into the dish on top the fireplace before joining her. 

"Mark," she began heavily, "is -was- a lot more to me then you know. When I first became a…you know, I was forced. Not forced in the way that you were, but I consider take the mark or die forceful. So I went to a bar in attempts to drink my problems away, something I've noticed you can relate to. And he was there, in his goofy, happy, teasing manner.

"He intrigued me, so I went back to that bar; he was always there waiting for me. As the saying goes, the young will be dumb…and we were. We weren't conscious of the things, which would drive us apart; all we saw was that the other took away the pain for a temporary basis. I got pregnant, got scared, and left. He found me six months later, I couldn't exactly hide the fact that I was pregnant and he couldn't hide the fact that he was pissed about it. He got so angry it frightened me more than anything else ever has. He is not a good man, Ron. When Perseus was born he tried to 'get rid of' him. Don't trust him, please."

I sat in shock. Mark tried to kill his own child? "I…" what the hell did you say in response to that? "I have to go." Well, that's one way to show sympathy; bolt. Seemed to be my way of showing that I cared as of late.

She nodded and wiped away her tears. "Just stay away from him," she warned one last time.

I nodded back in acknowledgement before heading back to the fireplace. Take note that I did not actually promise her anything; I didn't want to stay away from him now. Oh no, I longed to give Mark a piece of my mind, and then my fist. Then I would stay far away.

Tossing in the powder and going back to the house that I had been given, I knew that I would find Mark there. Benefit of the whole seer thing, you always get nice pieces of information like that, always know exactly where to find someone.

Mark was waiting with a bemused look on his face. "Heard you had quite an interesting few days." He walked over to me briskly and pulled up my sleeve, "well my God, it's true. He got you kid."

I yanked my arm away, "he didn't 'get me' he branded me against my knowledge, not to mention will. I heard some interesting things about you as well though. While I will admit that the whole death eater thing is quite attention-grabbing on my end, it's nothing like your attempted baby killing."

His face turned serious as he backed into a chair behind him. "Talked to Melissa did you?"

"What do you think?" Evasiveness truly is a glorious thing.

He smiled in an almost bitter way, "well do I get to tell my side of the story or are you just going to stick with her motherly cry of foul play?"

I raised an eyebrow, "I see no reason why I shouldn't believe her."

"She got you the bloody dark mark kid, you see that as some sort of bond of trust?"

"You're the one who sent me in there," I shouted, losing my cool persona. "You set this all up, you fed me to the wolves so you could get the intel that you wanted!"

"It was your job Ron," he stressed, "you took this assignment under no false pretenses. You knew the risks, I'm sorry that you fell victim to them, but that's how the game goes sometimes."

"Under no false pretenses? You knew the reason that he wanted me and yet failed to inform me. I would call that a 'false pretense.'"

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I didn't know for sure about the seer thing, but I can see now that I was right. I did not know that his search for a seer had been narrowed down to you; if I had I would not have let you go to him. Believe me Ron, I don't want to see you on the dark."

"I'm sure you don't," I spat angrily. "Just say what you want to say so I can leave and be done with all of this."

Happy that he had been given an opportunity to clear himself Mark put his hands together and began his story. "I first met Melissa after my first major assignment had been completed. It wasn't a happy mission, and I was miserable after I pulled it off. So naturally, I went to go get drunk the second I could. She came in, we talked, and she left. It continued in this pattern for quite some time before one thing led to another and, you know, nature took its course. She disappeared and I pulled out all the stops to find her…I thought that she had been tortured and was now dead. When I did find her she was far from dead, she was pregnant. She was carrying my child and she didn't even see it fit to tell me. Melissa is an extremely selfish person; you should realize this as she took you to Voldemort herself. I wanted custody, she refused. In an act of random insanity I tried to take Perseus from her when he was a baby, she pretends to mistake my attempted kidnapping for attempted murder. She isn't a good mother Ron; I've been fighting the legal way to gain any sort of access to my son for years. Don't let her fool you; she is selfish enough to keep her child from his father out of her own anger and spite. Remember, she's a death eater, do not trust her."

I looked at him in utter confusion. Now just who the hell was I supposed to believe here?

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A/N Well if I did a decent job here you should be attempting to decide who you believe right now. I would love it if you left a review to let me know, it always helps for future chapters to know what people are expecting. If you didn't like the chapter, well, it was late and I kind of like it so…there you go, I suppose. Reviews are always welcome!

Oh, and I know that I've been promising the return of Hermione for a while but when I say soon now I mean it! Next chapter she will be back…of course, not back for good, but what can you do?

My handy dandy thank you list:

****

RonandHerm4eva (Yes, that would suck to wake up with the dark mark on your arm, lol. And I don't think that I could stomach writing H/Hr, it's jus Ron jumping to jealous conclusions. Lol, it'll make their confrontation so much better.), **Hplova4eva **(Haha, I actually didn't expect that to happen last chapter myself. Just kind of came out…Thanks by the way, I was ridiculously happy about getting into the college that I want, lol.), **ShellRae007** (Lol, sometimes I tend to bitch about writing in the first person, but only because at times I get tired of the character. I enjoy writing it in this style though, and you're right, I don't think it would have worked as well without the "I" factor. Thank you for telling me that you like it this way, it means a lot to know that it's working out alright.), **orli- enthusiast **(Well how can I resist the pouty face? Lol, consider yourself forgiven…again. And Ron's luck will turn around, I just enjoy torturing him so much! Harry and Hermione are not together though, so at least he doesn't have that to worry about.), **UAngel05 **(*cheers and screams* You're an Ohio State fan! Awesome, now I want to run up and give you a hug…er, a cyber one that is. Lol, sorry I just never met anyone on here that's a bucks fan, it excited me. Glad you're liking the story!), **EnchantedSpirit **(Hmm, well can't really relate on the whole science project thing, I avoid science at all costs. Glad you like the last chapter though, always nice to know my evil schemes are clever, lol.), **tiffiany-45 **(Aw, I love Pirates of the Caribbean! I too, have seen it way too many times, lol. Two words, Johnny Dep. I haven't seen Finding Nemo though, is it good? Glad that you liked the last chapter and especially glad that I surprised you with the dark mark thing, lol, element of surprise is key.), **weasley13 **(Thanks so much, I always appreciate positive comments. You are definitely right though, Ron does rule. Lol, I always end up wishing that J.K would write more about him instead of Harry.), **Funness **(Lol, well it's nice to know I can make you laugh when something serious happens. I try not to make the story too dramatic. And don't worry, however odd you are I am ten times more odd. Perhaps I should stop watching television, I need to start conserving brain cells also.), **Trempush **(My, my aren't we the observant one? Lol, just ignore me. The potion knocked him out and then Voldemort gave it to him. Good question!), **linda_ishtar **(Lol, here is the rest…well obviously not the entire rest, but you know, some of it. I'm glad that you are enjoying the story and really glad that you like the plot!), **DaOnlyWolfGurl** (Thank you so much! I'm really glad that you think this makes sense, I've been trying to take it somewhat slow so that it does eventually make complete sense for Ron to go dark. Major events will occur until something pushes him over the edge. Glad you're enjoying the story!), **Veanna **(Hola amiga! Que eres tu? Lol, that's about the extent of my Spanish and I think that I messed it up. Glad that you're liking the story though and I'll do my best to keep up the good work!), **bluehoax **(Lol, you can dry off from your cleansing shower now, no H/Hr in sight. And there seems to be a lot of drunkenness going around in this story…oh well. Haha, Ron is going evil baby, you don't sound excited though, lol.), **Shakespeare's Muse **(Yes, I was talking about The Ohio State University and relax, I would never add H/Hr to my story…that's just wrong. Lol, glad that you enjoyed my evil cliffhanger, I didn't leave one this chapter though.), **Me **(No problem about not reviewing, and sorry about the cliffhanger. Lol, I couldn't resist leaving one. Glad that you're liking the story still!), **Wacky Watermelon **(Lol, I know that it takes a while to get used the evil Ron, but there is still a while to go before we get there so you have time to prepare. Glad that you like the story!)


	17. Pieces of My Broken Heart

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summary: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own.

A/N- It's been a weird week. I meant to update sooner, but other things happened.but I am now focused and pumped! *looks for someone to high five* No one? Alright I'll just go wallow in self-pity.

Oh, and ff.net wouldn't allow me to upload ellipses (the three periods in a row) so anytime you see one period with a word after it with a lower case letter, three periods are supposed to be there. Hopefully that makes sense.

Chapter Seventeen

Pieces of My Broken Heart (aww, cheesy clichéd chapter title.someone shoot me, quickly.)

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Sometimes you're standing on the edge of a cliff. Sometimes you jump just to see what it feels like. And sometimes you jump just because you're tired of being scared. Dorothy Dandridge

I can distinctly remember feeling like a child caught up in the middle of a messy divorce. We were all adults, Mark, Melissa, and I; so why was it exceedingly difficult to act as such? I visited with Melissa once more, and spent a few days with Mark. It wasn't necessarily immaturity and bitterness that seemed to be driving their harsh remarks against each other.it was something else entirely.

This wasn't a break up gone horribly wrong. It was like they were fighting over me. Fighting for control over me. I didn't like the idea that they seemed to view me as an object, something that could gain them prestige and power. I didn't want the whole true seer thing.I just wanted to be me.

Fed up with Mark constantly "dropping in" on me I left the house. Against Mark's orders and knowledge. How rebellious am I? Alright, so I left a note saying that I would be back in a few hours, but I didn't say where I was going.

I ended up in Diagon Alley. Probably not the smartest place to go if you are a marked death eater and presumed dead. I did have a disguise though, a good one. I had a hat.and some glasses. And my outfit was totally not something that anyone would expect to see me in. I was good to go.

Except, Diagon Alley is very boring if you have no one to walk around with. I had a Gringott's account, in the name of one John Smith. Yeah, Mark is all about the secret identity thing. John Smith, there's an original name. Though I could kind of see it's appeal."I'm John Smith, just a regular Old Joe. Or maybe I should say John. Ha ha, like that one do ya, well I got a dozen more." There's a stimulating conversation if I ever heard one.

See what being alone gets you, insane, that's what. I swear spending a day inside my head is like going to a haunted house.I wonder if anyone would pay admission to see the horrors that are the inner workings of my mind? Step right up folks, just a sickle for horrors that are sure to leave you with nightmares for the rest of your life. 

Passing by a newsstand I spotted an issue of Witch Weekly.Hermione and Harry were on the cover. It was a picture from my funeral. You know, no one should ever have to say the words _my funeral_.there is just something wrong about that. But I did have to say/think it, and the surreal feeling of it didn't numb the pain of seeing Harry and Hermione "comforting" each other. Harry and Hermione. Come on, it just didn't even sound right together. People with similar sounding names do not belong together in the romantic form. Case in point, Mark and Melissa. Yeah, see how well that one worked out. Ron and Hermione on the other hand, it just has a nice ring to it. Or perhaps I am a tad biased.

I missed her. I ached for her and I didn't even know that it was possible to ache for someone. I needed her and if she was with Harry I didn't know what I was going to do. If I lost her to Harry she would be lost to me forever.I would never even have the chance to officially be with her. I wouldn't get to proudly proclaim myself as her boyfriend.her lover.her husband. I had never even realized that I wanted those things, that I wanted to be her everything.

I wouldn't be her anything now though. She didn't even know that I was alive. I was so lovesick over her that the girl standing across the street looked just like her to me. That's just demented, my mind is morphing innocent girls into Hermione clones.I closed my eyes and looked again, Hermione look-alike was still there, and now she was walking towards me. Great, now I had to confront my insanity head on.

She stopped in front of me and I had to give my imagination kudos, she was very realistic. No use going insane if you can't at least do it right, that's what I always say. Actually, I don't say that, but it sounds good. So perhaps I'll start saying it.

She looked at me for a solid minute; neither of us said a word. It was strangely intimate and spellbinding. But then it ended; she turned and began to walk away.

"Wait," I called out, unwilling to allow her to go. She turned back to me, tears evident in her eyes. I don't know why I called her back; I didn't have anything to say to her. I just.wasn't prepared for her to leave. She wasn't Hermione, but she was close.and I needed that.

I pulled off my glasses and so I could stare into her eyes. They were brown, that dark soft sort of brown that I could only see in Hermione's eyes. I knew my imagination wasn't this good, I wasn't this vivid with descriptions. I wasn't imaging her.it was her. And that scared the shit out of me.

"Ron," she whispered, as if saying it loudly would cause me to disappear.

My eyes darted around; there were a lot of people around. A lot of people who could easily overhear anything. A lot of people that could report what they heard to unwanted sources.

I grabbed a hold of her elbow and led her to a nearby alley. We walked halfway down it, no one was around. "Hermione," I said uneasily, ".hey."

She looked at me incredulously, "_hey_? You were.that is you are.or at least they said that you were-"

"Dead," I finished somewhat harshly. "Gave up pretty quick on me, don't you think? Evidentially so, being that I'm still alive and all."

"That isn't fair," tears returned to her eyes, "you have no clue what you put me through. They told me you were dead, I saw your body! You can't just disappear, die, and then come back like it's alright. It's not alright," she broke off into sobs and I couldn't stand it anymore.

I took her into my arms decisively and murmured endearments into her ear. "It's okay now, Hermione." I said the words, though I didn't believe them myself. I would give anything though, anything at all, just so she wouldn't have to feel pain. 

After having collected herself she merely settled for staring at me as if she had never seen me before. "What happened," she asked in a quiet voice, "where have you been?"

"It doesn't matter where I've been, Hermione.it's where I am now. And right now, I'm with you."

She jerked away suddenly, "It does matter, Ron. It matters to me. You left, why?"

Why? Now there's a question with a thousand possible responses. None of them justified my actions though; nothing made the mark on my arm disappear. "I left because I had no other choice."

"There is always a choice," she countered quickly, "you may not like the results, but there is always a choice. Don't dance around the subject, Ron; don't feed me these lies that you think I want to hear. Tell me the truth or leave so I can go back to mourning you."

"Mourning me? I'd say you've long since gotten past that stage." Her words had provoked sudden anger in me, anger that drew up the picture of Harry and her in my mind. "Moved on rather quickly actually, glad that you didn't suffer long."

"Suffer," she repeated, "you know absolutely nothing of my suffering. If you had bothered to stick around rather than run away-"

"I didn't run!"

She shook her head with a cynical smile, "no, you just bolted when you were afraid. Strange though, sounds a lot like running away."

"I wasn't afraid," I spat, hearing my own voice rise, "and I didn't want to leave you. It killed me to leave you, and even more so to stay away. Of course, it didn't take you too long to find comfort in the arms of Harry-"

My face burned suddenly. She had slapped me, and it stung like hell.

"How dare you," tears were now foreign to her expression, which was one of pure rage. "You relinquished all rights and 'claims' you have on me when you slept with me and then abandoned me. I am not, nor have I ever, been with Harry. You always have been prone to jump to ridiculous conclusions. There's only been you, Ron.and now I'm not sure if there can ever be an us."

I wasn't angry anymore, just numb. The look on her face, the pain and rage at me.she wasn't lying, I could tell that much. "I'm sorry," I said softly. "I've failed you and you have every right to hate me.but know that for as much as you hate me, I love you a hundred times stronger."

"I could never hate you," she said almost so quietly that I didn't hear it. "As much as it would be easier for me to hate you, I know I never can. I've loved you since I was eleven years old, and it just won't go away."

Within a second I had my arms wrapped around her. It didn't matter that my life had turned into one huge mess. It didn't matter that the dark mark was residing on my arm. Nothing mattered in that moment because I loved her, and she loved me; and in that there was nothing but perfection.

I placed feathery kisses along her neck and pulled my portkey out of my pocket. "Come with me," I whispered.

"Where?" 

"Where do you want to go," I asked with childish dreams taking place in my head.

"It doesn't matter," she responded suddenly, the realization of just wanting to leave with me dawning on her. "It doesn't matter," she said again with a smile, "as long as I'm with you."

I kept my arms wrapped around her and pressed down on the portkey. We slipped away from the alley and into our own naivety and dreams.

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Hermione looked around the house, "where are we?"

I touched her hair gently, still in disbelief that this was happening, that she was really here. "My place."

"Your place," she questioned, "where did you get this house.Ron, where have you been, really?"

"Don't ask me that.please, Hermione. I'll tell you everything eventually, but for now, can't we just pretend like nothing has changed?"

She sighed and looked away. "Against my better judgment I will agree to that. As long as you promise that you won't keep things from me after this. I just got you back Ron, don't lie to me anymore."

I inhaled deeply and felt bliss as her smell tickled my nose. She always smelled of lavender, it was lovely. I felt drowned in my feelings for her, it was dangerous but I didn't care. I knew it couldn't last as much as I knew I was lying to her when I told her that I would tell her everything. I wouldn't taint Hermione with my recent adventures and misfortunes.but I would tell her some things.

  
It couldn't last though, that was the one thing I knew for sure. I was in trouble, I wouldn't put her in harm just because I was weak and had to bring her back here, had to see her.

Tired of thinking and sick of knowing that it was all bittersweet I kissed her. I kissed her in a numbing sort of way, attempting to take away my pain. She wrapped her arms around me and all my thoughts and worries flew out the window. Everything was perfect again, if only for a little while.

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A/N- I ended the chapter there against my own better judgment. Angst and drama next chapter, perfection will be short-lived because, of course, Hermione is going to discover something important. Gee, three guesses as to what, lol. *cough* summary *cough*

No thank you list this chapter because I wanted to post tonight and I'm tired. Thank you so much to anyone who reviewed though, I love hearing your thoughts and insights to the story. I'll probably send out e-mails this week to anyone who asked a question in their review for sixteen, otherwise, thank you for taking the time to leave a review and I hope you are enjoying the story.


	18. The Seventh Son

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summary: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: I own the world, mwahahaha-er, I mean I own nothing…

A/N- Return of angst! Not a moment too soon either, too much cheerfulness in the last chapter, lol. And finally some explanations will be given on certain things. Oh, I got tired of my little chapter title game…it was alright at first but has been growing on my nerves. So no little story moods through titles. Lol, it had meaning at first but lost it after about chapter twelve. 

Chapter Eighteen

The Seventh Son

The inevitable happened. Again. Well, it wasn't inevitable per se; it could have been quite easily prevented or sidestepped. But it wasn't, and so…well take a guess at what happened, imagination is a good thing.

Is there any good way to say that you have had sexual relations with someone? I took her to bed? No, that sounds weird. I slept with her? Implies that no sex was involved. We fucked? Too vulgar. We made love? Way too cheesy. Well, however you say it, it happened.

It was nice. Well, okay, it was more than nice. It was loving, it was gentle, and she does this thing with her back…er, you get the picture. No need for private details now. 

Afterwards though, it was pure bliss. She was lying in my arms and I had no intention of leaving this time. Like I said, it couldn't last. But this, this intimacy could go on for a few hours, I would allow that. She smiled at me and I felt all the love in the world there in her warm smile.

"Ron," she whispered against my chest, "this is nice." I couldn't agree more. "I can't believe we did this again though…I mean I thought for sure that I'd never see you again, and if I did I told myself that I would never allow anything to happen. But with you, it just always kind of falls into place."

I smiled at her, but said nothing. I didn't want to ruin it with words, with the truth. The truth slipped it's way into my mind for the first time in a few hours. My arms were wrapped behind her back. My arm that had the dark mark on it. My eyes widened, I had completely forgotten about it, but it was there. It was there in all its hideous glory and she could not see it, no matter what, I could not let her see it. I could stand a lot of things, but Hermione believing I'm a death eater is not one of them.

Attempting to slip my arm underneath a sheet didn't work out quite as slyly as expected. "Ron," she said slowly, "is something wrong with your arm?"

"Wrong? No, everything's is fine. I was just, you know, cold."

"Cold," she repeated in an unnerving manner. Before I could catch hold of her or even register the action she had flipped her body around and was staring in horror at my arm. The look on her face left little room for hope that she hadn't seen the dark mark.

"Oh my God," she breathed. "Oh my _God_!" She jumped out of the bed with the sheet safely covering her body. I saw her arms beginning to shake and her face lighting up in panic.

"Hermione," I said desperately, "it's not what you think."  


"Not what I think? Ron, the bloody _dark mark _is on your arm and it's not what I think? What the hell is it then, because right now I'm thinking that you're a death eater."

"It's," I really had no explanation, "it's well, you know-"

"No," she interrupted quickly. "I don't know, Ron." She backed up against the wall and I could barely stand to see the disgusted look on her face. Her quick mind always working she looked around at her surroundings in a new light, "this house, all the secrecy, it was all because of this, wasn't it?" 

I said nothing; there was nothing to say, no way for me to contradict her. Sure, I could have said the truth, but I doubted she would have believed it. The truth sounded just a tad too convenient now; she would take it as a lie.

She placed a hand over her mouth and kept repeating, "oh my, oh my, oh my."

"Hermione," I said once more.

She tried to back up more, but was already against the wall. "Stay away from me, Ron," she warned. "I can't believe what a fool I've been to not have seen this-"

"Seen what? I'm not a death eater, Hermione, it's a misunderstanding."

"I understand," she said in a high-pitched voice, "I understand all too well, Ron. I guess I just wasn't enough for you, was I? The idea of us was just too simple, you wanted more. Looking around I can see that he gave you more, but tell me something, was it worth it? Was the house, the wealth, and the power worth any chance you ever had with me, any future we could have had?"

I licked my suddenly dry lips feeling a sense of dread wash over me. I felt cold and suddenly empty.

"He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that? I hope you know though, Ron how much I loved you, how much your family loved you. Was it all worth it, to give up your family, your life? You could have been someone with the Light, but to the Dark you are nothing more than bait."

Her words stung, and I saw some amount of truth in them. "Hermione," I tried once more but felt suddenly faint. My head felt as if it were going to burst and a sudden rush of nausea washed over me. I bent halfway over as if I were going to be sick, but I didn't vomit as expected, I passed out.

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I was in a hospital. I had always hated hospitals; they always gave me the chills. It was dark and I could hear a faint crying.

I followed the sound instinctively and came upon a young couple, a woman curled up in a hospital bed and the man protectively holding her. She was the one crying, he didn't look too far off from it himself. As I walked towards them I felt a coldness sweep over me…it was my parents. Only they were young.

This wasn't the future, it was the past.

"There, there, Molly," my father soothed as he rubbed her back, " we can have more children…it'll be okay."

"No it won't" she wailed painfully, "I must have done something wrong Arthur. It's my fault…all my fault."

"It's not," he said somewhat sternly. "Bad things happen sometimes, Molly, and there's nothing we can do about except mourn. We just have to pull ourselves together and know that he's in a better place."

"Michael," she whispered, "oh, our poor baby. He's gone, Arthur…"

"Ssh," he soothed as he continued to whisper into her ear at a level that I couldn't hear. I felt myself being drawn back without fully understanding. Our baby…Michael…it clicked though as I was in between awake and wherever I was in my visions. It clicked and the awful truth sprang forward.

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"The seventh son," I whispered hoarsely without really knowing what I was saying.

"What," Hermione's voice cracked with emotion from across the room, "Ron, what happened?"

"I'm the seventh son," I repeated, still attempting to grasp the information.

I could see the struggle in her expressions as she tentatively crossed the room. "Ron," she said from a few feet away. "Ron, what happened, you look as if you've seen a ghost."

Ignoring her weird comments about seeing a ghost, I see ghosts all the time, why would that make me look any different? I licked my cracked lips, "they had a son named Michael. He must have been born before any of us…they were so young. He would be older than Bill."

"Ron, you're scaring me." She had stopped a short distance away from me. Close enough that she could see what was happening, far enough away so she could run if needed. Run from the big bad death eater.

I stared at her feeling suddenly dead. "I scare myself. Just go, Hermione, it's not safe for you to be here. Go and forget about it, but promise that you won't hate me…I need to know that you don't hate me."

"I could never hate you," she said softly, "I told you that. What is happening to you, Ron? Why did you pass out it was almost as if you-" Her eyes widened and she took an unconscious step back. "It's almost as if you had a vision."

I smiled, feeling at the very least mildly insane. "It would seem that way, wouldn't it? Too bad you don't believe in seers and predicting the future."

"I…I believe that some people have the ability to foresee events. Is that what's happening, Ron, are you having visions?"

I turned my head, "it doesn't matter."

"It does matter," she took a courageous step forward, "that could explain certain things. Tell me, Ron, please? No more lies."

I was still feeling sick from the vision process and wasn't completely in my right state of mind. But it seemed to me as if Hermione wanted me to explain the situation to her. Funny, I would have figured that she would have run for her life a while ago. I looked at her hardly, she was still there, it wasn't my imagination.

"You want the truth," I said hoarsely…she can't handle the truth. At least, I wasn't sure if she could handle the truth. I wasn't sure of anything anymore. "I'm a seer," I said simply, "a true seer."

"A true seer," she gasped. "Ron, one of those hasn't been around for centuries, and they are-"

"Don't believe me if you want, but there's the truth."

She sat on her knees in front of me and looked into my eyes, "I believe you." She looked around the room apprehensively, "I've actually read a lot about them, once I came across the term true seer, and it fascinated me. It's generally the seventh son that has the ability…"

I could see her thinking about my words as I had come out of my vision. "I am the seventh son. I saw my parents, when they were young they had a child…Michael. He must have died."

She nodded and turned away for a moment. "You seemed so sick when you came out of your vision…that would mean that you aren't very far into it."

My ears perked up, Hermione knew about this. She had read about it, which meant she probably knew more about this true seer business than I did. "Tell me," I said suddenly, "tell me all you know about true seers."

She avoided my eyes, but answered my question. "It's a cursed life, Ron. It is a rarity for a reason; it is an enormous talent to have. In fact, it is too big for one person, it bears down on them until…It starts soon after the wizard or witch comes to age, it begins with a few visions that leave them feeling very ill. Then it grows. After they get used to the more frequent visions, they have the ability to change them. And it's not just visions of the future, as you now know, they are of the past and present too. A true seer has the ability to change what they see, the ability to change the past…the present…the future. It's a dangerous business, Ron. After a few years they develop the ability to hear thoughts. The only known true seers became so sensitive to other's thoughts that they either locked themselves away in isolation…or became completely mad."

I sighed heavily, that wasn't exactly a happy story.

"If you are as you say," she continued quietly, "then run away, Ron. Voldemort will know about you -which is probably why he went after you- he'll attempt to twist your talent to his needs. If he can get you to alter things…it will be the end of the world."

"Don't you think I know that," I snapped with a quick temper. "Don't you think I know why he wants me on the Dark? I didn't ask for this, I don't want to be a bloody 'true seer' I just want to be me!"

"I'm sorry," Hermione, said, "I'm so sorry that this is happening to you. Go to Dumbledore, Ron, he'll help you."

I nearly snorted, sure he would help me. He had probably known all along, that's why he had sent me to "training" in the first place. My thoughts were interrupted as I felt a sharp pain in my arm. It burned and the pain blinded my senses.

"Ron," Hermione said sharply, "Ron, are you all right."

"Go," I croaked through the pain, "leave Hermione, before something happens to you."

"No," she said decisively, "I'm not leaving until we figure out something to do."

"He's coming." Her eyes widened in comprehension. "He's coming," I said once more, "and he will kill you if he finds you here. Please leave, Hermione, I have to know that you're safe."

"Come with me."  
  
"I can't…he'll find me. Go, now." Her eyes darted around; she obviously didn't know what to do. In an attempt to get her to leave I tried more desperate measures. "Go to Dumbledore, Harry, my parents, anyone. If you stay here, we'll both die. Leave, get help."

I didn't really want her to get help; no one could help me now. I wanted her to leave though; I wanted her safety above anything else. It worked. 

"I'll go to Dumbledore," she said painfully, "I'll tell him what's happened…he will help you." She took out her wand and looked at me with tears in her eyes, "I love you."

And then she was gone, and that hurt more than the mark on my arm ever could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N- wow, I updated relatively quickly. Shocking. So bittersweet Ron/Hermione…in a way. I couldn't torture them as much as I had originally planned to; she knows some of the truth. And she doesn't hate him. Some angst, but not a terribly high amount. Next chapter will hopefully be out just as quickly. Lol, sorry about the A Few Good Men thing I stuck in there…you know, the whole "I want the truth! You can't handle the truth!" Aww, gotta love overacting. Thank you Jack and Tom, you make movies worth making fun of. And if you have never heard that quote (in which case you must live under a rock) or never seen the movie…don't worry, you aren't missing anything.

Thank you to:

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RonandHerm4eva (Lol, how was my plot twist? Surprise you at all with the seventh son thing…probably not because I think I may have mentioned it to you before and forgot about it. Oh well. And I actually wasn't too mean to Ron and Hermione this chapter…I think I'm getting soft.), **eckles **(Glad that you are enjoying the story! I love your penname by the way…eckles. Lol, I said it to myself like three times in a row, it just sounds nifty. Kudos on that, lol.), **zoreo09 **(Thanks for the encouragement and glad that you are liking the story!), **Tiffiany-45 **(Omg, I loved your Death to Smoochy quotes…I haven't seen that movie in forever but when I read the quotes I was cracking up for like five minutes. The "poking" quote is absolutely priceless. Glad you are still enjoying the story, and ff.net frustrates me at times too, but hopefully it's all fixed by now.), **PyroAndrea **(Glad that you like the plot and the story, and I was needlessly ticked to see that you spelled cool k-e-w-l…lol, now I don't feel all alone that I spell it that way.), **Shakespeare's Muse **(Really? You really think I'm evil? Aww, now that is just sweet! Lol, I love getting compliments, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Loved your story btw, I left you a review, but just wanted to tell you again!), **Trempush **(The ellipse thing is supposedly fixed, we will see though. Lol, this chapter and Hermione's reaction wasn't that bad, she stuck around for an explanation so it's all good…Now there is just the suspense of Voldemort coming next chapter, lol.)


	19. Chained and Bound

Shadows

Rating: PG-13

Summary: "He painted a pretty picture for you, didn't he Ron, what with all of his colorful lies and empty promises, how could I possibly compete with that?" A series of events leads Ron to the dark side, can anyone bring him back?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize, I don't own.

  
A/N- I have a headache. Worse than a headache, a migraine. If someone would please just put me out of my misery and kill me it would be much appreciated. You know, perhaps since I have a migraine it probably isn't the smartest thing to be staring at a computer screen…oh well, I've never felt the need to exercise any common sense before, why start now?

Chapter Nineteen

Chained and Bound

I closed my eyes in anticipation of my unavoidable meeting with the dark lord. I would have to face him…have to be strong. I didn't feel strong though, I felt alone and weaker than a child.

He had branded me, marked me as his. I didn't know what the mark did to death eaters, I wasn't sure exactly what powers he held over me, but I knew he held some. Probably more than some, it must work as some sort of controlling charm. He could track me, force me to stay put so I could not run…and who knows what else. 

Ever since the mark began burning I knew the pain of attempting to leave would be so great it would kill me. I had wanted Hermione to leave, wanted her to be safe above all things. But a part of me wanted to leave with her, to insure that we were both safe. I couldn't though; his spell on me forced me to stay where he wanted me.

He was getting closer…I could feel him. The mark burned with an intensity of a fire as he drew near. A pounding took over in my head until I felt that I would pass out from the pain of it all. Pounding of a drum, slamming into the walls and depths of my mind. Black spots overtook my vision as I fell down onto the floor with an overwhelming sense of dread.

~*~*~*~

__

It was dark. So dark that it hurt to even see. It wasn't like before, wasn't like my other visions. The darkness was like a fog, after a few minutes it began to lift…but I could still feel it around me, lurking in the background somewhere.

I was in an alley. Mold and dirt covered the walls that enclosed me and two dark shadows hid in the distance. I carefully walked towards the figures, dying to see what was going on and at the same time afraid to know.

They had hoods up for the protection of their identities. But I knew the voices, how could I not? Two women, equal in desperation, equal in pain and lack of hope.

"We must try," the one on the left, said without much conviction. Ginny, my sister.

"I do not see how we can attempt anymore than we have. We have lost, it is over." My heart began to beat faster, Hermione.

My sister whipped around as if she were disgusted to even look at Hermione another second. "If we do not do something we will surely die here!"

Hermione shrugged and made no attempt to get Ginny to look at her. "Better to die than continue to live under Voldemort's reign."

I tried to get a better look at Hermione, how far in the future was this? And I couldn't help but wonder, where was I? Why was the future me not here with Hermione, why was she thinking things like it was better to die, why was she not being protected by me?

Ginny turned back around, her voice rising, "he is lost to us, Hermione! You can't go through life searching for death just because Ron is gone. No one is more sorry than I am to have lost my brother, but there is nothing that can be done about it now. You have to live for the future, not wallow in the past."

"He isn't gone," Hermione whispered fiercely, "and I'll be damned if I write him off as a lost cause. He's the one that needs help but he is the only one who you are not making an attempt to save."

"Because he is not worth the effort. He is one of them, Hermione. He is not the man you and I love; he is nothing more than a monster. Be reasonable, there are people who we have a chance to save, and yet you are set on going into the lion's den to save someone who has no desire to be saved. He'd be better off dead than to be where he is now."

Hermione threw her hood back and glared at my sister with a passion and hatred that I didn't know she possessed. "And you are so quick to forget your precious 'Draco' are you, Ginny? The man you did everything to help is evil and the man who is good, who is trapped in the Dark, is the one you will sacrifice nothing for."

"You don't understand Draco," Ginny said softly, "we weren't what you seem to think we were. I was never involved with him, he was my…partner."

Partner? Their conversation was turning to a confusing place for me; it was surreal enough as it was. Ginny and Hermione had never hated each other, they had never been particularly close…but they never disliked each other.

"Partner," Hermione spat back, "sexually, you mean."

Ginny's own hood fell from her head, revealing her own angry features. "You know nothing about what I have been through. I never loved Draco in any way shape or form. I attempted one rescue mission for him because it was the least I could do. He is not the evil one; you are blinded by your own feelings for my brother. I love my brother, Hermione, I really do. But I can face facts; I can view this situation with a clear head. Forget about him and look around you for once, the only thing you see are the lies that he has told you. You're a smart girl, Hermione, start acting like it."

"I'm tired of being who everyone else wants me to be. Ron's losing his only chance to live and get away by being where he is. If you won't help me then I'll do it alone." Emphasizing her point Hermione turned on her heel and headed down the alley.

"Wait," Ginny called out sounding disappointed in herself. "I'll help," she said in a tone making it obvious that she felt she shouldn't. "I don't want you to go alone…I have a contact where they are keeping Ron, his guard. You won't be able to do it without me."

Hermione didn't turn around to face her. "Your contact is Draco, I assume? I would kill Ron myself before trusting him to that rat."

"That rat is the only prayer you have so I suggest you treat him with a little more respect."

"Always defending him, aren't you, Ginny? Forget it, I'll do it myself." In one swift movement Hermione had her wand out and disappeared before my sister could even get a word of protest in.

Rings of Ginny cursing into the darkness echoed in my mind as I woke.

~*~*~*~

No sooner had I slipped out of that vision feeling dizzy and ill when I felt the pull of another one coming on. My eyes seemed ready to roll into the back of my head, I couldn't take the pressure of another vision so soon, it would completely drain me.

Whispered voices…so far away. Two people were talking.

__

"Ron did not accept the position I offered him."

I heard a spell muttered and was pulled back from the vision before it had hardly begun. I was grateful though; I still had no idea in hell what the first one was about. But I could hear those words, the conversation between two people that I had started to eavesdrop on…both visions were so confusing.

"Ronald," a silky voice called out from a dark corner of the room. He was here, he had been watching me, observing and judging the amount of my talent. Seeing if I were worth the effort he had put out for me.

I felt like an animal at a pet shop, being looked over carefully to see if I were as good as I seemed. He needed to make sure I was broken in, housetrained and all.

"What do you want?" I spat, feeling defiant.

"I think that should be quite obvious."

"Yeah," I retorted quickly, "well too bad for you because I'm not who you think I am. I can't be your little 'change the future boy' so what do you think about that?" Which, you know, wasn't technically a lie, as I had no clue how to change what I saw in my vision

His nonchalance told me I was ineffective. "If you are inadequate I will dispose of you."

Well, that is certainly nice to hear. Inadequacy equals disposal, also known as death. Although it was hardly the time to have this line of thoughts I couldn't help observing how all of society, in essence, is like you-know-who. Everyone feels the need to get rid of something the second it no longer works. Rather than take the time to work with something, or someone, figure out what's wrong and attempting to fix it, we throw it, or them, away.

You-know-who seemed the type to attempt to torture his toys as a child if they broke, thinking pain would persuade them to work…

Again, wrong time to analyze this, but insightful nonetheless. "Ah," I finally responded, "that's nice."

"However," he rose from his seat, "you can be who I want you to be, and you will. You want to help me, Ronald; you want to work for me. I will give you everything."

"You can't give me what I truly want so I wouldn't go to that aspect of persuasion if I were you." I was feeling kind of proud of myself at this point; I was being all jaded and cynical acting. I wasn't cowering or showing fear…go me! Too bad I felt all the cowardice and fear that I wasn't showing. But looks and appearances are everything, right?

I didn't look at him as he began to speak once more, thinking about appearances had led me to think of his…which was not pleasant in the least. "You'll find I can give you whatever it is you desire. Know this though; if you do not help willingly you will help by force. I suggest the former as it is much more agreeable and far more profitable for you."

Work for you-know-who? Yeah, that sounded like a career dreams were made of. Please take note of the sarcasm in the previous sentence. "I already have a job, but thanks anyway for the offer. If I ever find myself in unemployment you'll be the first person I contact."

"Ah, yes," he moved into my line of vision, "young Mark would be your employer if I recall correctly. As Mark is in my employment then it seems that you already work for me…though indirectly."

Mark what? I wasn't sure if I had heard him correctly. "Mark," I said softly, "Mark works for you?"

"But of course."

"Why?" This was bad, this was very, very, bad. Like catastrophe bad.

"I pay very well." Oh, well there's a nice incentive.

I nearly smiled at my next statement, almost proud of myself that it was true. "Money doesn't interest me."

"It should," he said simply. "You have no reason to refuse my offer, no reason to stay in this 'good' that you believe yourself to be helping. There is no good, only power."

I felt numb, and more tired than I had ever been in my life. Everything seemed to mesh together, nothing shocked me. Mark was an agent for the Dark…well, that's nice. You-know-who wants me to be his own personal psychic friend, that's just a run-of-the-mill everyday thing. Hermione was here, told me she loves me, and then left. It all just struck me as funny, I had the sudden urge to laugh but ultimately decided that would make me look more insane than I wanted to look.

"I'd really rather be in business for myself," I said suddenly, feeling like I had some sort of death wish. "A free agent of sorts."

To my everlasting shock the dark lord took out his wand, the same wand that had killed and tortured so many people, and prepared to leave. "Very well," he said as if this were some sort of friendly conversation, "contact Melissa or Mark if you change your mind."

And then he left. Left me sitting in the midst of my own confusion knowing only one thing for sure: I have the most fucked up life in the world. I should really receive some sort of plaque or something for that feat.

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A/N- I'm not particularly happy with the Voldemort scene…I might change it later if I'm not too lazy. I got tired of it and just got into a dumb sort of sarcasm, so I apologize if it sucked. I'll be hopefully updating again soon, the real action of the story is finally starting up. Lol, it only took nineteen chapters to get to it too…and back to the sarcasm I go.

Thanks to my lovely reviewers, I would send you all cookies but I'm not into full-fledged stalker mode quite yet.

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RonandHerm4eva (Lol, I love the whole vision thing…it makes it so much easier to scene skip in a way that actually makes sense. Not sure why I haven't done this before, I get to do future scenes right now. Lol, yeah, I'm in a rambling mood so sorry if that made no sense whatsoever.), **Tiffiany-45 **(Lol, I couldn't leave Hermione in the dark completely. I'm must be growing soft if I went out of my way to prevent angst…oh well. Dude, Death to Smoochy is seriously the best movie. I had to go watch it again after reading your quotes, I laugh harder every time that I see it.), **eckles **(Yes, Dumbledore does have some explaining to do…but as this is all in Ron's point-of-view I don't have to write that scene, lol. Ah the joys of first person writing…I get to skip over so much stuff.), **Talia Moon **(Lol, a lot of people were under the impression that someone else said that line from the summary. But I always had Hermione in my mind saying it so that's the way it worked out. Dumbledore does have some explanations to give, but they may not be what you expect. Lol, I love being evasive!), **orli-enthusiast **(Oh my God! You said my word! Confuzzled is the word I use all the time and it annoys everyone else…I feel as if we should start a club based on the word! Oh, and I also use the word spiffy a lot, and that also causes people to look at me strangely. Wow, you are my long lost word twin. Lol, and don't worry about not reviewing, I updated really quick…which was quite a feat for me!), **KeeperOfTheMoon **(Aww, I'm so glad that you love the story! I noticed you've been posting stories like crazy, I went to your bio page and was like damn. Lol, I'm in the process of reading your new stuff and have ever intention of reviewing when I stop being lazy.), **Shakespeare's Muse **(Lmao, the quickness of my last update almost caused me to pass out too. I'm glad you got on to my line of thinking about Molly and Arthur. I always found it odd that they had so many kids, so I thought maybe something like that happened to cause them to want so many…or maybe they just were never informed in the methods of pregnancy prevention, lol. Glad you enjoyed the last chapter!), **bluehoax **(Lol, I was happy that she finally got to find out the truth too, now the door is open for future R/Hr goodness! Glad you liked the whole bittersweet aspect, I always find angst to be a good thing, lol.), **ilikechicken **(Lol, love your screen name! I like chicken too. Especially with honey mustard sauce. Glad you are enjoying the story and your request for a happy ending has been dully noted, lol.), **Sina Ba Ako **(Lol, I'm glad that you love bittersweet romance because there is a lot of it in here. Thanks for your compliments on the story, it's always awesome to hear someone say that they love my fic!), **Tom-Feltons-Hot **(Glad that you're liking the story, and I hope that Ron going dark doesn't seem completely implausible after reading all of the story, thanks for reviewing!)


	20. Dazed

Shadows

A/N- Okay, anyone who was anxious for this chapter needs to fall down on their knees and worship RonandHerm4eva because she literally wrote nearly this entire chapter. I wrote about the first 800 words, after that though, completely her. She did an amazing job, and wrote the chapter better than I probably could.

So, once again, thanks Heather, for giving into my untimely laziness and making a seemingly boring chapter into something wonderful.

Chapter Twenty

Dazed

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to merely face yourself. It can be easier to confront any demon in the world other than the ones that haunt your mind. I had managed to put off my condition. My curse. Managed to ignore it as if that would make it go away. It wouldn't go away though, visions were coming more frequently…it was taking over me.

I was terrified of what would happen to me. Hermione's words were etched into my mind--it would drive me to madness. I had no clue as to how to escape it, it wasn't as if I could outrun it or beat it physically in any way…you can't beat yourself, and that's what it was, this thing was me, and it always had been.

It had been lurking inside of me since the day I was born. It had been there during my childhood, always protecting me from harm. I would always sense danger, I would know if something bad were going to happen. I would have dreams that would come true. It had all seemed like forgettable coincidences at the various times when they occurred…but now I knew. I knew that it was building up, preparing me to be whatever it was I was destined to be.

The night when I had found the silvery mist thing--as I so affectionately call it--in my backyard it was years of preparation and dreams coming to a head. I had confronted myself then…confronted my soul. The mist was my soul; there was no other explanation. 

__

True seers have no soul.

But what if they did? I had a soul, I had seen it. So what if they had a soul, just not one that resided in their body. And if I could find it again, or rather if it would find me again…if I could combine myself with my soul then maybe I could stop it. The inevitable was approaching at an alarming speed, the visions had come, and the rest would soon follow. I was desperate to end it. I didn't want to hear people's thoughts; I didn't want the ability to change my visions. No person should have that power, no wonder all other true seers had gone utterly insane. I was already closing in on insanity and my "gift" hadn't even developed much yet.

I didn't know where Hermione was. I had this power to see, and I couldn't even determine if the person that I loved most in the world was alive. If I was going to be cursed with this ability, I might as well be able to use it to my advantage.

I closed my eyes tightly and concentrated solely on Hermione. Show me Hermione, show me Hermione, was the only thought running through my mind. After a minute I opened my eyes again…nothing had happened. I gave a frustrated shrug and walked out of the room; it had been worth a shot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I needed to…I wasn't sure what I needed to do. I had to leave this house, that much I knew for sure. It obviously wasn't safe to stay here. Then again, it obviously wasn't safe to stay anywhere; he would find me no matter where I was. I lifted my sleeve and stared down at my arm in disgust, the mark of death was tainting my freckled skin. It would be there always…haunting me, reminding me.

It should have been my choice. I didn't want the dark mark; I didn't want to fight for them. I wasn't fighting for them, I corrected myself. I was an agent for the light…but Mark was one for the dark. Or so You-Know-Who had told me. I would be a fool to take everything that…that thing, told me as an absolute truth. But I had been weary of Mark as of late, hesitant of his intentions. 

If there was one thing that caused suspicion in Mark it was his happy nature. Anyone who is happy and energetic at all times is evil. Well, perhaps that assessment is a harsh one, but you get what I'm saying. People should not be smiling and laughing at all times…it just isn't right. If someone acts like they have every reason in the world to smile, they probably don't. They hide behind their happy continuance and secretly plot world domination. Or, you know, something along those lines.

In my ever present pondering, I realized that my thoughts about my impending insanity were actually driving me there at a rapid pace. The more I stayed cooped inside these walls; my mind would take over with cynical thoughts. This is the problem about being alone. Even though the hypocracy of the world annoys me, it's still essentially healthy to be a part of it.  
  
I quickly stood up, and stared at the door for a few moments. Did I really want to mingle with the outside world today? In the end I guess this question doesn't really matter, because it was inevitable that I would have to venture outside or stay here and debate with my mind the signs of insanity. Choosing hypocracy over insanity, I slowly made my way over to the door, as I thoroughly did not have the concentration or strength to Apparate. And as I still wasn't quite sure how to Apparate…well, that kind of took away the option. I'd been meaning to learn but you try to find time to take a bloody class when you're running from You-Know-Who.  
  
You can imagine my surprise when I opened the door while justifying my Apparation laziness to myself to find someone on the other side.  
  
"Melissa? What are you--? Why are you--?" I started, completely confused by her appearance, "How did you find out where I live? There are laws against stalking a bloke, you know."  
  
Melissa rolled her eyes, looking very exhausted, "I didn't stalk you, believe me, I have better things to do with my time."  
  
"Like going to Death Eater parties, torturing Muggles perhaps?"  
  
Melissa sighed and looked at me in exasperation, "Exactly Ron, that's exactly what I do. Never mind that I have a son to take care of--"  
  
"Why are you here?"   
  
"Can I come in? I don't think this is something that should be discussed out here--" Marissa glanced around quickly and then looked back at me. At that point I was torn between options. Could I really trust Melissa? She's one that could go either way on the evil scale. No doubt that she'd tell me some more information to make my mind dwell again and rearrange my views. Did I really want that? I had enough on my plate as it was.  
  
I shook my head and looked at her with a stone expression, "No, you can't. Whatever you have to say, you can say it out here...."  
  
Melissa shrugged and let out a breath. "Okay," she bit her lip and went on, "when you had sexual relations--"  
  
My eyes went wide, and before she could finish, I pulled her inside and shut the door behind me. "You don't blurt things like that in public!" I stated quickly, and felt myself blush without volition.  
  
"You told me to say it out there," Melissa stated and went on, "Listen Ron, this is important. I know about your rendezvous the other night. I know you care for this girl, but right now the last thing you need is emotional involvement. That can be used against you tremendously, and can ultimately lead you to the dark side if Voldemort decided to use this girl as an ultimatum. Love will be your downfall, and in the end you will only hurt her and yourself."  
  
I looked at her in fury, but deep down I knew that what she was saying was right, "you were spying on me? You didn't watch me all night, did you? That's sick--"  
  
"_I_ didn't spy on you. You fail to realize that you have a lot of people watching you, Ron."  
  
"Well, if I didn't feel paranoid before, I sure do now."  
  
Melissa rubbed her temples and looked at me, "that's besides the point. Did you hear what I said about emotional involvement? You don't need that right now--"  
  
"I know this already. I saw her and she saw me, what was I supposed to do? I couldn't very well act like I didn't know her. Besides, she saw the dark mark on my arm, so I doubt I'll be seeing her again any time soon," in spite of myself, I felt tears stinging my eyes and turned away, "it felt good, if only for a few hours, to experience love and pleasure instead of hate and pain."  
  
There was a moment of silence before Melissa spoke, "I know this is hard for you, believe me. I know it's difficult to give up everything you once held dear to live a life of misery. I once felt what you felt, but what I felt was a lie... an illusion. It was a mistake that was lifelong. Every time I see my son I experience all variations of emotions. I know that I am doomed to my path because I have an emotional attachment that could be held against me at any time. You have a chance to be free of that... you have a chance to not worry about hurting the one you love with your own selfish decisions. If you love her, you'd let her let you go."  
  
"I really don't have a choice, do I?" I asked, finally turning around to look at her.  
  
Melissa shrugged, "not if you want her to be safe."  
  
My head ached, but not nearly as much as my heart. I loved Hermione; there was no doubt about that, and the thought that I'd never get to be with her again hurt tremendously. But Melissa was right, if I wanted her to be safe, then this was the only route.  
  
"Okay," I replied in a whisper, feeling nothing but despair wash over me. I knew this beforehand, but the fact that it was actually being stated and enforced was different somehow. I didn't want to go outside anymore. I might as well let insanity take over, what else do I have to be sane for? I just wanted to be alone. "You can leave now."  
  
"I'm sorry, Ron, I really am--"  
  
I opened the door, not wanting to hear her apologies. They were just words. After they are said so many times they lose their meaning. It's like stabbing someone repeatedly and saying ''I'm sorry"... it just doesn't matter. "Just go."  
  
"I'll see you later then," she replied and started to walk around me. Great, I had that to look forward to - seeing her at a death eater get together. If she brings the chicken I'll bring the alcohol.  
  
I turned around to face the doorway and shut the door after she left, but was startled to see Hermione blocking her way out. Damn, no one visits me until today...  
  
"Who are you?" Hermione asked quickly, and as I know Hermione, I know from her tone that she was not pleased in the least.  
  
"She's just a friend... that was leaving," I said before Melissa could say anything.  
  
"Why was she here?" Hermione asked skeptically.  
  
I was half tempted to tell Hermione why Melissa was there, until Melissa turned around and looked at me pointedly. I knew this was the perfect time to put everything into action. If I didn't get Hermione out of all this now, I was bound not to get her out ever.  
  
"It's not any of your business, Hermione--" I watched as Melissa made her way around Hermione and out of view.  
  
"What was she? One of Voldemort's little whores to keep you company? Was that all I was to you, Ron? Just a night of fun...?" She looked up at me with anger and hurt in her eyes.  
  
I knew that if I answered this truthfully, and told her no, that she meant everything to me... that I loved her more than life itself, I'd be defeating my purpose and that'd make it all the more hard to break away. Sometimes a lie, even if it's a downright difficult one to go with, can be right in the end.  
  
"Yes," I answered, feeling my throat go dry.  
  
"What?" Hermione asked, looking at me as if I had made a mistake with my wording.  
  
"Yes, that's all it was. A night of fun. I'm sorry."  
  
Hermione's face that was before contorted with fury changed to one of utmost hurt. She stood there with her mouth half open, looking too shocked to say anything. When she did speak, her voice was shaky, "No I'm sorry. I'm sorry I saw you the other day. I think, after all I know now, that you were better off preserved in my memory the way I remembered you before. But I guess you're no less dead than you were before then." And with that she turned on heel and walked away briskly.  
  
I shut my door, and stood against it with my eyes shut. I really needed some Fire Whiskey right about now.

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A/N- okay, I think you can now all safely say that that absolutely rocked. If you would like to order some 'Heather is my evil queen' t-shirts you may contact Jenny at 867-5309. And if the above sentence wasn't humorous to you, then you aren't aware of a running scheme, er…I mean joke, so just ignore it. Ahem, yes, but please do remember to thank RonandHerm4eva if you enjoyed the chapter, as without her, it would have taken about another week to be posted.

And since I'm on the subject, *preps for shameless story plug* you will be able to find a new story up very soon titled "Ruptured Redemption" it is authored by RonandHerm4eva and myself and is the third story in her series. You may find it, as well as it's two predecessors, located under her s/n, which you may find under my favorite author list on my bio. It has an awesome plot with many twists and should hopefully be a great read.

On to my thank you list for the last chapter, which I did write:

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RonandHerm4eva (I love you so much, lol. I reread the chapter and I was just like 'she is my evil queen!' I added like two lines to some stuff you wrote, but other than that, nothing is changed really. Thanks again, you did it perfectly!), **Ali Irufan **(lol, um well…I sort of, kind of, forgot about people who are kissed being soulless. So lets just say that true seers can function without souls whereas people who have been kissed cannot. Because the dementors devour their soul, so it is, in a sense, no more. But true seers souls are merely lost. Thank you so much for pointing it out to me, and I hope that I've covered my bases now!), **meh **(no one is exactly holding a gun to your head here, if you don't like the way I do my chapters then here is a piece of excellent advice: Don't read the damn story!), **ilikechicken **(Wow, I can't believe you eat honey mustard on your chicken too…lol, I feel as if we are long lost twins. Have you ever had a grilled chicken salad with honey mustard dressing? It's so awesome. Glad you liked the cat fight between Ginny and Hermione…lol, maybe we can call it a chicken fight.), **Sina Ba Ako **(Lol, well you can thank RonandHerm4eva for updating the story and saving your sanity. I agree though, it does suck that Ginny didn't love Draco. I'm a huge G/D fan…lol, but I never said that they weren't together in this story, or will not be together at a later date. She just doesn't love him now.), **zoreo09 **(Thanks for reviewing, glad that you're liking the story!), **Celebrian Arcamenal** (Lol, I'm a lot confused in life so it's nice to know that Ron and I aren't alone. I'm glad that you can connect with the story, and thanks for reviewing!), **Ron-n-Hermion_FANATIC1345 **(Aww, thanks so much for your compliments! It's awesome to know that you find the story addicting and I hope that you continue to think so.), **blondevixon **(Lol, I think that's the first time someone has called me deep before…normally people just shake their heads and call me insane. This is a nice change though! Thanks for reviewing!), **bluehoax **(I agree, sarcasm is a very, very good thing. Lol, if it weren't for sarcasm I wouldn't talk half of the time. Glad you liked the last two lines, lol, it about sums up my life.), **Tom-Feltons-Hot **(I'm so glad that you like the story even though you aren't a huge fan of first person point-of-view. Lol, I'm sure if you tried though you could find something bad to say…not that I want you to say anything bad, just saying you could. I'm just going to shut up now, lol.), **orli-enthusiast **(I have no clue how people cannot love to be confuzzled. It is the best word on the planet, lol. What should our club be called though? Lol, glad that you thought the last chapter was weird in a good way…any weird is good in my opinion though, lol.), **UncleFungus **(Aww, if you say things like that to me you're going to make me blush! I'm so glad that you like the story, and thanks so much for your review!), **snowflakeginny **(I'm so glad that you are enjoying the story! As for your H/G question though…well I can't tell you that, lol, it would give away a plot twist. But if you keep reading you should find the answer in the next few chapters.), **lilith witch **(Lol, well I've already responded to your review, but thanks again for reading and reviewing everything and I'm glad that you enjoyed it!), **Me **(No problem, I understand about losing time to do things…lol, school has been killing me lately. Lol, yeah I don't think anyone was that shocked about Mark…which actually kind of surprised me. I thought I would get a few people, oh well though. So what are your thoughts on Melissa? Good, evil?)


	21. Two Roads Diverged

Shadows

Chapter Twenty-One

Two Roads Diverged

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Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, just as fair. -Robert Frost

I was cold. My life was basically over and the only thing that I could think of was how cold I felt. Not even that numb like cold that people feel in shock…I was just that regular I need a blanket kind of cold.

Hermione was gone. Not gone because she had to leave out of danger, gone because she had wanted to leave. Wanted to get as far away from me as possible. It was my fault too; she would have stayed if I had asked her. She had come to see me, she had obviously wanted to tell me something important…and I treated her like some sort of whore that I was dismissing with ease.

I looked down at my arm, this was my life now. Hermione, nor anyone else, had any reason left to believe that I was a death eater for any other reasons than that of my own free will. Whom was I supposed to report to? Whom was I supposed to "spy" for? Mark was probably a bloody death eater as well…Dumbledore, well I hadn't even spoken to him. If Mark was who You-Know-Who claimed him to be then Dumbledore probably had no knowledge of my activities or whereabouts.

I was completely alone. Well, not completely…Melissa was still here. Not that I particularly wanted to speak to her. I had told her to leave, she hadn't. Something about how I shouldn't be alone. 

Trudging out of my room I went downstairs with the intentions of forcing Melissa out. There was something about being in your house with someone else there who you weren't entertaining…it just felt awkward.

"Melissa," I called through the house, wincing at how pathetic and horse my own voice sounded. There was no answer so with a sigh I continued into the kitchen, she was probably in there eating my food. And why shouldn't she? After all, she had encouraged and coerced me into ruining my life; she might as well eat me out of house and home as well.

Opening the door to the kitchen my beliefs were confirmed, she was indeed in the kitchen. With Mark. How very…fitting for this day.

"Ron," they both stood, looking uncomfortable.

I closed my eyes for a moment. "This is a nightmare," I mumbled, "a horrible dream that will end shortly." I opened my eyes and promptly pinched my arm. It was real…damn; the dream theory seemed so nice. Except, maybe it was a dream, a dream where I could feel the pain of a pinch. Perhaps I was one of those people that inflict violence on themselves while they sleep, and that is why I felt the pinch. Or maybe-

"Ron," Mark was repeating.

I really wished that he would just sit there and allow me to reason my way into turning a bad situation into a delusion. Delusions and dreams are so lovely; they make you appreciate things when they are over. But no, he had to be there tromping all over my hopes.

"What," I said shortly, "are you all here to drag me on one of those muggle talk shows so that you can screw up my life some more? Maybe you found a third cousin of mine that is a transsexual and is in love with me? Only in a zany and unexpected twist said third cousin is already in a relationship with the dark lord and in his love for me he will start a worldwide war that only I can put an end to."

"Ron-"

"How many times are you going to say my name," I snapped in sarcastic irritation. "It's just bloody annoying you know, 'Ron, Ron, Ron' _pick a new word_!"

Mark looked downright pissed. He picked up a nearby plate just to throw it down. I opened my mouth to let him know that he was going to replace that plate, but he beat me to it. "Shut up," he said darkly, "and sit down. Now."

"You broke my plate," I mumbled uselessly as I slid onto a stool.

"Ron," Melissa said gently as she put her hand on my arm. I quickly jerked my arm away; there was no reason for her to be touching me. "I'm sorry that this is hurting you, Ron, but you have to understand that-"

"Oh, put a cork in it," Mark said looking angrier than before. "Leave the boy alone, Melissa, and just stay out of the conversation unless you have something productive to add to it."

"Typical," Melissa said, her attitude changing quickly from sympathetic to indigent, "that is so typical of you, Mark. You have to pick a fight with me _now_ of all times. Don't you think that we have more important things to be discussing right now?"

"You mean like how you won't let me see my son? You're right, that is more important, why don't we discuss that?"

"Yeah," she responded sarcastically, "now is just a great time to open up that can of worms."

"Stop it," I interrupted as I allowed my head to fall onto the table in a mix of depression and sorrow. "I really don't care about your little family feud."

"We're not a family," they answered simultaneously.

Noticing that the point of my comment seemed to fly over both of their heads I reverted to the friend that will always be waiting in the wings for you: bluntness mixed with extreme annoyance. "This is the equivalent of banging my head against a brick wall. Here is an idea that will make everyone happy, how about the two of you leave and I will stay here? Brilliant, isn't it?"

"It has certain advantages," Mark agreed readily, "but no dice. We all need to talk, Ron. There are some things that you have been left out of the loop on…and maybe you shouldn't have."

"Out of the loop, no dice," I repeated lazily, "could you possibly use a few more clichéd lines?"

Melissa sighed and rested her head on her hand, "why must I be surrounded by idiots?"

"That's Mark's job, Melissa. He probably feels like it's his sworn duty to use clichéd, worn out phrases for all of us to enjoy and mock."

Mark opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, and then closed it again. "Humorous as this all is, we have something important to tell you, Ron."

"By all means then, tell me."

He looked towards Melissa and then looked back at me. "Well, we--that is I--wanted to tell you that…you began this job under false pretenses."

I gasped loudly, "you mean I'm not really working for Dumbledore?! That is…that is…something that I already knew. I'm not a complete moron you know, I figured that out all on my own."

"You already knew that?" Melissa questioned incredulously, "how?"

"I don't feel that I have to explain anything to you. I know because I'm smart enough to have skills of deduction. This isn't about me explaining things though; this is the two of you finally giving me some answers."

Mark stood up, "well that's all we wanted you to know."

"Too bad. I am sick and tired of being your damn puppet; you are going to start answering my questions. The two of you can take your share of my recently suicide invoking life changes, so now you are going to sit here and answer all of my questions. And when I'm finished you are both going to leave my house and not contact me again."

"Actually," Mark interjected, "it would be my house…being that I bought it and all."

Melissa glared at him darkly, "Mark, be quiet and let Ron ask his questions."

Now that I had their attention…I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to ask. It's one thing to be angry and demand answers, but it's an entirely different thing to have someone offer to answer them for you. "So," I stalled for a moment. "How about you tell me the real deal between the two of you?"

"The 'real deal'" Mark sneered, "between Melissa and myself? That is what you want to know, is this gossip hour or did you really want to find answers about your life and why Voldemort is after you?"

"Maybe he should know," Melissa said quietly. "It is somewhat relevant."

"It is not relevant in the least. I am not going to sit here and rehash a history that no one cares about."

Melissa stood up and walked to the door leading out of the kitchen. "I'm going outside to get some air," she called behind her back as she left.

I looked pointedly at Mark. "I'd really love to hear this history," I said with a smile that I didn't feel. "Sounds downright fascinating."

He glared at me, but his glare turned into something else as he stared at the door where Melissa had been a minute before. "Do you think she's alright? Maybe I should go talk to her…"

"I thought you didn't care. You know, I really thought Hermione and I had the award for strangest relationship wrapped up, but you two are the dark horse of this imaginary competition."

Not hearing me, he walked out of the kitchen, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Well," I said to no one at all, "glad that so much was explained to me here." I hopped off the counter and creped over to the front door; I wasn't above a little eavesdropping now and then.

I took out my wand and remembered a useful spell that Fred and George had taught me that made it very convenient and comfortable to spy on others. "Medwella," I muttered lowly. A bubble-like shape appeared in front of me with Mark and Melissa in the center of it. I lead the bubble over to the sofa with me and watched the figures as the volume rose from inside the bubble on my command.

"Mark," Melissa said with a sigh, "I just can't do this."

"Do what," he responded, "be outside?"

"Be serious for once…I can't be here with you. You hate me, and you are not exactly my favorite person anymore. You cannot just appear and act like nothing has changed. You cannot sit and joke with me and then turn back into bastard mode. You made your choice, and you didn't choose me…which is regrettable to be sure, but I'll survive. I always do."

"Bullshit," he said angrily, "I had no choice! Would you rather had me sacrifice Perseus or our relationship? I don't know what you want of me, Melissa; I have done everything that I can. I risk my life everyday-"

"I never asked you to do that! All I ever wanted you to be was someone who could be with me, but you've never been able to do that. First, you were working for Dumbledore, and then you were so consumed by your hatred and thirst for revenge that you couldn't see straight. Maybe you didn't have a choice, but if you did, you would have never chosen me."

Mark looked away, and for the first time he appeared to be defeated. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I'm not enough…I've never been able to measure up to anyone's standards, least of all my own. I know that I've failed you-"

"Stop it," she said, her voice rising, "I don't want to hear this self-pity from you. Jesus, Mark, the only person you have ever failed is you." She rubbed her eyes to keep from crying, "like I said, I can't do this with you right now. We better get back to Ron."

He still looked dejected. "What do you think of Ron?"

Melissa smiled briefly, "I think he'll do."

"Me too."

I saw them turn towards the house and quickly got rid of the bubble. They entered the front door together as I was attempting to piece together everything that I had heard. Obviously, there was more between them than I had originally thought. Shaking it off I decided that I would have to wait and think about it later.

"So," I greeted, "how about you all tell me the nice story about how the dark lord came to the decision to mark rape me."

They sat down in separate chairs. "Well," Melissa began, "he's always known about you. Not you specifically, of course, just the idea of you. He has always searched for the true seer that he knew would be born during his reign. While he was searching though, he became obsessed with the idea and power behind a true seer; he put countless people on the task of researching past seers and finding out the extent of their gifts. I guarantee that he knows far more about your abilities than you do."

"Obviously," I responded dryly, "all he would have to know to know more than me on the subject would be one thing above nothing."

"Anyway," Mark took over. "So he put a large group of his best people on the task of finding the true seer. Melissa and I were included in that group. It was I who found you, in your sixth year at Hogwarts."

"My sixth year? How?"

"We have ways, that's not important though. He could never get to you because you were constantly under the protection of Dumbledore. Even when you weren't at school, you still had his protection. Therefore, when Dumbledore attempted to recruit you, I knew exactly where he would send you. There is a man who is one of the most powerful seers of the times, Dumbledore wanted to send you to him for training. He used the whole 'spy' gig as a cover-up, obviously didn't feel you were psychologically able to deal with your abilities. I intercepted and took you into a trainer/trainee situation."

"Oh." I responded dumbly, that was a lot of information to have to process at once. The whole thing didn't seem nearly as interesting now that I knew. The only thing I felt though was that of being snubbed that Dumbledore wanted to turn me into seer boy rather than a secret agent. How rude of him.

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A/N- btw, I actually did write this chapter…lol, just in case anyone was wondering. Thanks again to RonandHerm4eva for writing the last chapter, which was completely awesome. Sorry it took me so long to get back to this story, I've had some side projects going on. But I'm still into this story, and hopefully I'm not alone in that, lol. Hope that you enjoyed it and the some action will finally be starting up soon!


	22. Strategic Planning

Shadows

A/N- wow, you know I am really making rounds on story updates if Shadows is getting done. I apologize for being lazy with this. Let's see…I started this last July, I'd really like to have it done by this July. So, that's my goal. We'll see how it goes. Oh, and this, like last chapter, is not the most exciting…but I am getting there. I just need a little more time to set things up, then I can finally get to the fun scenes ;)

Chapter Twenty-two

Strategic Planning

I surveyed Mark and Melissa with growing distaste. They had long since given up on explaining things to me, and were now focused on attempting to make me believe that this situation really wasn't that bad. All I had to do was view it from a more optimistic standpoint. Right, optimism is precisely the key to keeping myself alive…and be sure to note to sarcasm there, folks.

"…and so, Ron, I think you will see that once you really consider it, life as a spy is not truly that bad. I mean, the pay is good, the company--"

"Is death eaters," I interrupted Melissa, "so therefore, cannot be considered savory company. And the health plan, is…well, nonexistent, as living through tomorrow is not exactly a guarantee."

Mark raised an eyebrow at me, which only served to annoy me farther. I mean, who raises one eyebrow? Raise both of them or just forget about it. "Ron," he began slowly, "I don't think that you are taking this seriously."

"Oh, no, you are reading me wrong. See this, this is my serious face. Notice the stone-like expression, and narrowed eyes. If I weren't taking this seriously, then I would be laughing."

"Funny," Mark commented dryly.

"I thought so. I mean, we all have our gifts in life, and I am lucky enough to have two. Not only am I the sarcastic kind of funny, but I am also the new target of You-Know-Who. Yes, I am just blessed all around."

Melissa sighed heavily. "Ron, can we be serious about this for just one minute? Much as I enjoy your unnecessary comments, there are other things we could be discussing."

"Fine," I said shortly, "consider me solemn. What would you like to talk about first, Melissa? How about we begin with how the hell I'm going to live past my next birthday?"

"Alright," Mark agreed readily, "we can discuss that. For you to survive all of this you need to learn how to think like a death eater. You need to become on of them--in appearance only, of course."

"And how am I supposed to become one of them? Bloody hell, I cannot even look at the dark mark without gaining the urge to vomit. Besides, won't V…Vol…You-Know-Who, find it just a bit suspicious if one day I show up, announcing that I am now in support of him?"

Mark began to look in good spirits for the first time of the day. Apparently, strategy planning is one of his strong suits. "Of course we won't play it off like that. You can come back captive, and after a few days of struggle, begin to really listen to what Voldemort is saying. Pretend as if you are really interested, and act like it all makes sense to you.

"And what's to stop him from just deciding that I make a fitting captive and keeping me there without opportunity for a change of heart?"

"Because he needs your cooperation. You see, Ron, true seers are the one of the few types of magical beings that cannot be manipulated or forced. Their power is solely within themselves, they can receive visions by ways of force…but there are many people who can merely see the future. It is only the true seers that have the power to change what they see, and they may only change the past, present, and future by their own freewill. He needs you on his side, Ron. He can mark you, he can kidnap you, he can kill people that you care about; but at the end of the day, he needs you to want to help him, and his cause."

I sat still for a moment, as that was a lot of information to digest at once. "So, what exactly am I supposed to do if I do get into the dark inner circle? Hang around; inconspicuously ask for signed confessions of overall evil doings?"

The unlikely tag team seemed to be out in full force, as it was now Melissa's turn. "It will not be fun and games for you, Ron. If you can pull this off, you will bring down the dark lord."

"And where exactly are the two of you in this scheme? Neither one of you have explained exactly what you are, and what is in this for both of you."

Mark looked at me uneasily. "We are…complicated. We are what you would call spies, but we do not exactly work for anyone. We have no one to refer to, no one that we gather information for. I worked for Dumbledore at one time, but parted under differences in opinions."

"And?"

"And what?" Mark's irritation was beginning to show, "I told you all that there is."

I bit back the urge to tsk at him. "You forgot the why. Why would the two of you go through all this effort, what is in it for you?"

He glared and turned to Melissa. She took the initiative and answered the question. "We have our reasons. Our _separate _reasons that is. Mark and I don't actually like each other…just thought I should make that clear."

"Yes," I responded, "one can never have too much clarification." I waited for a moment to see if anyone had anything further to add. When nothing was said, I stood with a newfound decisiveness, "Right then, so if we're done here, I'm going to just go ahead and go."

They both stood immediately. "Go," Melissa voiced, "go where? You are not leaving are you?"

"I assume I am not a prisoner here. I want to go for a walk, is that alright with the two of you?" Without waiting for a response, I made my way to the door and out into the yard. I figured they would be watching from the window, so I made an effort to appear to just be getting some fresh air.

I went back to the woods behind the house, once I could no longer see the house--therefore, ensuring that no one in the house could see me--I leaned against a tree and closed my eyes. I could make myself have a vision, I knew I could. All I needed was to be completely without interruption.

I had the ability to see and change the past, present, and future…I just needed to figure out how to use that to my advantage. I slid down until I was sitting on the ground. How to force a vision…I figured my best bet was to concentrate on a specific place or event.

The first thing that drifted to my mind was Hermione. I wanted to see Hermione. I squeezed my eyes tighter together and pictured Hermione in my mind. Her face took shape against the blackness of my mind. I could remember the exact shade of her eyes, the curve of her mouth, her small nose…in no time at all there she was, a portrait of my memory.

"Where is Hermione now?" I whispered to a force that I could not name. "Where is Hermione? Show me Hermione."

The black background began to lift and was replaced with a room. A pink and white room that I had never seen before. There was a bed in the corner, a bed covered with a mixture of lace and books that had been tossed atop it. And lying in the middle of it all was Hermione. My breath caught in my throat, it was really her. I thought harder and zoomed in on her form to find that she was crying.

My lips felt suddenly dry as I surveyed her shaking form. All of the books surrounding her had the word seer contained in the title, and among the books were magazines and newspapers from the wizarding world. All of which had my name on the cover or front page.

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Ron Weasley: Dead or Alive? Sources say there is more to his disappearance…

Ronald Weasley, Death Eater? Is He Being Protected By You-Know-Who?

Harry Potter Accused of Taking Part in Death of Best Friend, Ron Weasley.

I looked away in disgust, she should have had to seen all that. I then immediately felt guilty that Harry was obviously being subjected to media scrutiny as a result of my "disappearance." He did not need that stress added to his life. Maybe I would pop in on Harry next. But, for now…I sat down next to Hermione and tried to brush her hair off her face. The strands did not move, it was only a vision after all, I was only seeing what was happening, and I was not actually there.

Unless…I supposedly had the ability to change what I saw, could I change this? Did I want to? I would just try something simple, I promised myself, I would only attempt to get the hair off her face. That could not hurt anything. Besides, I was sure that it wouldn't even work.

"I want to change what I see," I said strongly. A glowing white ball appeared in my hand. I nearly started laughing out of shock, something had really happened. All I had to do was say what I wanted and it happened…

I leaned in towards Hermione and placed the ball near her face. The offending strands of hair lifted up as if being controlled by static and pushed their way back by her ear. I jumped back in astonishment, it had worked…

My breathing became more rapid, I could really do that, and I could change things! I licked my lips and looked back at Hermione, I could change other things. I went over to one of her newspapers and narrowed in on the one with the headline proclaiming me a death eater. I hovered to ball overtop it and concentrated on what I wanted it to say.

After that act, I could feel myself growing weaker and the vision was becoming fainter. I obviously did not have enough control of my powers to attempt too much…

I allowed myself to slip away, but not without one last glance and a smile at the new headline.

__

Ron Weasley Loves Hermione Granger, Forever and Always.

A/N- Okay, so the newspaper thing is really sappy…but I couldn't resist! And I know the chapter is somewhat short, but that seemed like such a good place to stop. Again, I apologize for taking so long to update, school had me so stressed, but I am done now, so this will be getting more attention. Reviews are very, very appreciated!


	23. Repercussions

Shadows

Chapter Twenty-three

Repercussions

I'd rather die like a man, than live like a coward--Tupac Shakur

I have just recently come across some very interesting information; for every action there is an immediate and opposite reaction. Now, this is not exactly the sort of thing which would interest me, it's more Hermione's cup of tea if you know what I mean…but as it comes into direct conflict with my life, it captivates me completely.

For every action: I changed the newspaper headline for Hermione. There is an immediate and opposite reaction: The headline did change…for everyone.

I just wanted to do something nice for her, she deserves it, right? After all that I've put her through in the past few months, why can't I just do one little thing for her? But…it wasn't just one little thing. It turned into one huge thing that has everyone running in circles looking for me.

The funny thing is, that I didn't even know about it for a few days. I mean, why would I? I was just around, living my days out in the chosen solitude of my house. Mark or Melissa hadn't shown up for a few days, and that was perfectly acceptable to me, no Mark or Melissa meant no potential missions. And, of course, no potential missions meant no hazards to my immediate being.

It wasn't until the fateful day that Mark came crashing into my house that I found out that I had done something wrong.

"Ron!" he bellowed with a look of fierce anger on his features.

I raised an eyebrow at him from my position on the sofa. Which, I found to be highly amusing, as gaining the ability to raise just one eyebrow, like Mark so often does, had become my goal for the week. Needless to say, I succeeded.

"Did you need something?" I asked as I lazily stretched out and stood.

"Yeah I've been meaning to kick your ass," he responded immediately.

"Well," I said, without making any move to get closer to him, "that sounds like barrels of fun; but, alas, I am busy at the moment. Perhaps sometime next week would be better."

"I'm not kidding, Ron! Do you have any clue how catastrophic your little declaration of love has been for us?"

My eyes narrowed, "my what?"

"Declaration of love," Mark repeated with growing annoyance. "As in your nice little newspaper trick."

"How…how do you know about that?"

"How could I not know," he countered, "you put it out there for every bloody John Doe to read about. In addition, may I add, that said list of John Does includes Voldemort. Why, Ron…why did you have to do this? Things were going relatively smoothly, and now it's like a train wreck."

I sat back down. "I don't understand."

Mark sighed heavily and joined me on the sofa. "How about you tell me what you did, and I'll tell you what happened."

"I just…I wanted to see Hermione, so I worked on it, and then she was just there in front of me. She was asleep, surrounded by articles and things on me, and they all just had such horrible things to say…I just wanted to do something nice for her. To show her that I'm not evil, and she isn't as abandoned as she thinks. So, I changed one of the headlines to something a bit more truthful."

He looked a little less angry as he made sure to stare me in the eye. "Ron, you didn't just change her headline though. Nothing is ever that simple. When you did that…you changed to headline of every one of those newspapers printed. So everyone--not just Hermione--, who purchased that paper, saw your truthful headline."

I sat for a moment in disbelief. Everything changed? But…that just wasn't possible…I didn't change all of them! Just Hermione's. My eyes slid shut, that couldn't have possibly happened. No way.

"But," I finally say weakly, "I didn't do that. I concentrated on what I wanted, and what I wanted was--"

__

I want to change what I see.

I did. I changed what I saw…I lifted the strand of hair off of Hermione's face. When she woke up, everyone would be able to see that the hair was no longer there. I changed the headline…but obviously not just hers.

"I'm sorry," I relent meekly. "I…didn't mean to. I only wanted to change hers."

"Well, there isn't really anything that we can do about it now--"

"I can change it back!"

Mark stared at me incredulously, "what?"

"I…can, right? I mean, isn't that part of my true seer powers, being able to change the past, so, shouldn't I be able to just, you know, change it back?"

"Ron, it isn't that simple. Why do you think all true seers end up living their life in either insanity or isolation? You can't just go around messing with the natural course of things, if you change one thing you change everything."

"Exactly. So that's why I should just change it back."

Mark sighed. "You can't. When you changed the present, you altered the course of fate; but the altered course is now the route of fate, it is done. Therefore, if you change it again you alter fate's alterations and create unforeseen conflicts. Do you understand?"

I sat for a moment in contemplation. "No."

"Well…just don't do anything. Alright?"

"I can do that."

"Good." Mark stood up and gestured for me to do the same. "Now, go grab your stuff, we have to relocate you."

"Relocate? Why?"

"Voldemort--must you flinch every time you hear his name?--has lost his patience. Now that he knows that you've developed your powers he is growing more desperate to make use of them."

"But…he can trace me, right? So, in essence, will it make a difference for me to move?"

"Melissa and I are taking you to an untraceable location. Even Voldemort does not have the power to break through these spells. At least, not yet he doesn't."

"Well, that last part was certainly comforting. So…I guess I should go pack then."

"I'll be down here."

I trudged up the stairs and walked quietly into my room. Lost in thought I made my way over to the closet and pulled out clothes that I carried over to the large bed to find that the bed was occupied with a figure that had gone unnoticed.

"Hermione?" I asked incredulously.

"Hi," she breathed. We stared at each other for a few moments in silence, neither believing that the situation had indeed come to pass. "I," she started, but the words fell short on her lips. She licked them uselessly. "I just…" she finally gave up on words and settled for holding up the newspaper that I had left lying beside her just days before. "Is this," she pointed at the headline, "true?"

I nodded mutely.

"Well," Hermione sighed, "that…complicates things."

"Not really," I finally responded. "I mean, you're still where you are and I…"

"You are what?" she prompted.

"I am leaving."

She laughed bitterly, "yeah. Well, that is what you do best after all."

"Hermione…please don't make it worse."

"Oh, excuse me, Ron, for making the mistake of thinking that I deserved a little consideration here. You know, I was doing just fine, I was picking up my life, finally getting ready to move on…and then you had to go and make me realize that…"

"That?"

She sighed heavily. "That I'm still in love with you. Forever and always, right?"

I couldn't bring myself to meet her eye. "I…have to pack."

She shook her head and stood, "Well, I just had to find out for myself if you really did change that headline."

"And now that you know?"

"Then I know," she shrugged. "Like you said, it doesn't make a difference."

"I never said that."

"Not in so many words, no; but you might as well have. You should pack, I'm sure you have something exciting to run off and do. I suppose I'll eventually see you around, or something like that."

I see her begin to leave and cannot bring myself to let her go. "Hermione…I'm sorry."

She turned around to allow me to see the tears welling up in her large brown eyes. "No, you aren't. If you were truly sorry, Ron, you would ask me to stay. You would tell me that you loved me enough to give up everything else to be with me. You would tell me that I was more important to you than any spy mission or whatever it is that you do."

"You are more important to me than any spy mission," I say, "but your well-being is more important than whatever selfish needs I have to keep you with me. I won't risk you, Hermione, so please don't ask me to."

She turned back around and waited for a moment before speaking without looking at me. "If you loved me you wouldn't risk yourself." And before I could even comprehend her, she had disapparated out of my life once again.

A few hours later, I was somewhere else. The location I could not name, all that I did know was that it was…dull. Colorless surroundings did little to improve my mood, neither did the fact that we were once again back to the stage in which no one would tell me anything. Apparently, when you alter the course of fate that gives grounds to ostracize you from the loop of knowledge.

I sat leaned back on a gray couch with my feet propped up on a black table that resided on black carpet with white walls. "Who decorated this place?" I voice to the general public, which, of course, was no one besides my self. "Whoever they are," I answer, "they must have been a manic depressant."

"I'll choose not to take offence to that," Melissa said as she entered the depressing room.

"You decorated this?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Hmm," I contemplate. "I never took you for a downer sort of a person. Would some color have killed you, Melissa? Maybe a splash of yellow or blue here and there? Think about it."

She looked around ponderingly, "Well, I figured it was a hideout. Hideouts are not generally filled with what you would call 'happy' colors. Serious colors for serious business."

"I suppose. So, if you and Mark are here, where is Perseus?"

"In a safe place."

"I thought this was a safe place."

"In a safer place then."

"Well," I respond, "I feel fleeced that I am not in the safest place possible."

She gave a small smile. "Between you, Mark, and myself, no place is going to be all that safe."

"You know what, that is strangely depressing."

"Yeah," she nodded, "preaching to the choir here."

A/N-I haven't done shout outs in a long time…and since I love talking to all of you so much I'm going to stop being lazy and do it now, lol.

****

RonandHerm4eva (Hey! Dude, I have not talked to you in forever! Oh, wait…I'm talking to you on AIM right now. Well screw you then, you don't a shout out. sticks out tongue), **CaretoDream **(Right on! Sappiness is a good thing. Lol, too bad it turned out somewhat badly for Ron. But I'm sure I'll cave and have super-sappy moments later on in the story.), **marzoog **(Aww, lol, glad that you liked the newspaper thing! Lol, my sentimental moment.), **KeeperOfTheMoon **(Lol, oh, she saw it all right. Along with every one else.), **zoreo09 **(Wow, five stars…I feel special! Sorry that you won't be here in June, are you on vacation or something? If so, then lucky you! See ya in July!), **Tiffany-45 **(Glad that you liked this chapter, I tried to explain things for everyone, so I'm happy that it worked. And I am sure that you, like me, are ecstatic to be done with school. Finals are a killer.), **Alexia Gemini Potter **(Okay, well I updated…but not exactly quickly. Lol, oh well one out of two isn't bad. Glad that you are loving the story!), **T **(Hey, more people are always welcome to jump onboard this story, lol. Glad that you are enjoying it!), **Stompy-Sanjii** (Hey, haven't talked to you in a couple of days! How have you been? Hopefully I'll see you around MSN sometime!), **orli-enthusiast **(Oh, yes, I can raise one eyebrow. Something that I shamelessly admit to practicing in front of the mirror until I got it straight. It is a nice skill to acquire, lol. Glad that you love Ron's sarcasm! I'm really sarcastic like that, and I always saw Ron as that way too.), **Diocletian **(Aww, thank you so much! I'm flattered that you've been following the story and think of me as a good author. Hope that you're still enjoying it, and thanks for the review!), **Shakespeare's Muse **(I haven't talked to you in forever! Hopefully your exams are done now, I saw that you had some new chapters up that I've been meaning to read…ugh, I've been crazy busy lately though. I'll get around to it soon though!), **Cheshire Bat **(You totally hit the nail on the head with the 'Butterfly Effect' thing…I'm going to have some fun with this one wink Ron's changed more than he thinks, and since I'm into complicating things he'll be changing more. Oh, and I adore Puss in Boots, it made me laugh that you did the eyes!), **Mia Sedai **(Ugh, I hate when people have bad spelling and grammar, I make an effort to have decent amounts of both, so glad that you noticed! Thanks for your review!), **JiggyHH **(I promise I'll get to your new chapter, I've been swamped lately…but I'm looking forward to reading it! Glad that you're enjoying this, and we'll see if I can get it done by the end of July, lol.), **Me **(Well, you saw Hermione's reaction, lol. What'd you think? Glad that you are liking the story!), **Sei Kou Ki** (No problem about not reviewing, don't sweat it! Glad that you are loving the story!!), **xMutedFaithx **(Lol, well, that's always worked for me. Walk around and you'll eventually find what you are looking for. Good to talk to you again, Crystal! Lol, of course I remember you! E-mail me sometime!), **Aimz **(I'm so glad that you are liking the story! Lol, but you'll just have to wait to see what happens to Ron and Hermione.)


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